Intellectual Property Law

Eleventh Circuit: eBay may eliminate presumption of irreparable harm in trademark cases

By McKee, Voorhees & Sease, P.L.C.

In a recent decision, the Eleventh Circuit vacated a district court's injunction against the use of a competitor's trademarks in the meta tags of a defendant's website.  The court held that while the plaintiffs had shown likelihood of success on both their trademark infringement and false advertising claims, because the district court relied on a presumption of irreparable harm to support its injunction, the injunction must be vacated.

Specifically, the court noted that the Supreme Court's eBay decision did away with the notion of irreparable harm in patent cases, and that the statutory authorization for injunctions is similar in trademark cases.  While the court noted that eBay applied to the case, it declined to decide its effect, specifically "whether the nature of trademark infringement gives rise to a presumption of irreparable injury," meaning whether presuming irreparable harm in trademark cases would run afoul of eBay.

More detail of N. Am. Med. Corp. v. Axiom Worldwide, Inc. after the jump.

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Full post as published by FileWrapper on April 14, 2008 (boomark / email).