Document Type
Brief
Case Name
Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation v. Canton Phoenix Incorporated
Publication Date
6-12-2015
Abstract
No. 14-36018
Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation v. Canton Phoenix Incorporated
On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon 3:14-cv-00764-PK Honorable J. Mosman
From the Summary of Argument
The District Court correctly determined that Slep-Tone’s trademark infringement and unfair competition claims are barred by Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 539 U.S. 23 (2003).
Slep-Tone’s fundamental complaint is about unauthorized use of its intangible content—karaoke tracks. Under Dastar, however, only confusion regarding the source of physical goods is actionable under the Lanham Act; confusion regarding the source of the karaoke tracks or their authorization is not actionable. Slep-Tone cannot avoid Dastar just because the karaoke tracks at issue are stored on a hard drive, as Canton Phoenix does not sell hard drives or any other physical product. Indeed, the only way consumers ever encounter the Slep-Tone marks is during playback of the karaoke tracks, so any “confusion” could only be the result of the content itself. Dastar clearly precludes such a claim.
Recommended Citation
McKenna, Mark P. and Gratz, Joseph C., "Brief of Amici Curiae Intellectual Property Law Professors in Support of Appellees Canton Phoenix, Inc. and Bing Pan Zhu" (2015). Court Briefs. 74.
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/sct_briefs/74
Comments
Amici are law professors who teach and have written extensively about trademark law and other intellectual property law subjects. Our sole interest in this case is in the orderly development of trademark law in a way that serves the public interest.
See the listing on page vi, including Notre Dame Law School's Mark P. McKenna.