Intellectual Property Law

Western District Trademark Lawsuits Up in First Half of 2008

By Michael Atkins

The Western District saw an uptick in trademark lawsuits in the first half of 2008.

From January 1 to June 30 of this year, plaintiffs filed 22 new lawsuits in the Western District that PACER recognized as being “trademark” suits. That’s up from 16 during the same period last year, though down from 30 in the first half of 2006.

Eighteen of the 22 cases were filed in Seattle. The rest were filed in Tacoma.

If I were inclined to see the glass as half empty, I’d bemoan my not blogging in David Donoghue’s neck of the woods. The Chicago IP Litigation Blog saw a whopping 68 new trademark cases filed in the first half of 2008 in the Northern District of Illinois. Not to mention the 126 new filings Ron Coleman and Marty Schwimmer got to choose from out of the Southern District of New York. As any blogger can attest, such a steady stream of new content possibilities is a fortunate thing indeed.

I suppose I should just be glad this blog isn’t called the “Spokane Trademark Lawyer.” Nothing against Spokane, but the Eastern District of Washington had no new trademark cases during the first half of this year. It had only one such case filed in the first half of 2007, and one in the first half of 2006.

On the other hand, with only a couple posts per year I’d have a lot more free time.

Full post as published by Seattle Trademark Lawyer on July 08, 2008 (boomark / email).