Trademark Litigation: Obtaining or Opposing Preliminary Injunctions and Temporary Restraining Orders
Navigating Inconsistent Court Treatment and Demonstrating Irreparable Harm
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
- work Practice Area
Health
- event Date
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
- schedule Time
1:00 PM E.T.
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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This CLE course will provide guidance to trademark counsel on temporary restraining orders (TROs) and preliminary injunctions (PIs) in trademark infringement cases. The panel will discuss the courts’ treatment of irreparable harm in trademark cases since the eBay decision and will offer guidance for overcoming the hurdles of obtaining or opposing these emergency motions.
TROs and PIs have been the standard remedy to challenge and stop trademark infringements at an early stage. TROs and PIs or the threat of them can cause a defendant to halt production or lock down advertising campaigns and warehouses of branded merchandise. A PI is a powerful tool that often prompts defendants to rethink, redesign or abandon the challenged brand.
Since the Supreme Court, in eBay v. MercExchange (U.S. 2006), rejected the notion that there is a presumption of irreparable harm upon a finding of infringement for purposes of determining whether to grant a permanent injunction in patent cases, appellate and district courts have reached inconsistent conclusions about whether the long-established rule that a trademark owner is entitled to a presumption of irreparable harm upon a showing of a likelihood of confusion is still applicable in trademark cases.
In addition to overcoming the hurdle of demonstrating a likelihood of success on the merits, trademark counsel are often faced with the challenge of presenting sufficient evidence of irreparable harm in order to persuade a court to grant an injunction.
Listen as our authoritative panel examines the requirements for obtaining a PI or TRO and what defendants need to do to avoid them. The panel will discuss considerations that should be weighed before seeking a TRO or PI and the hurdles that arise for plaintiffs, including challenges of proving irreparable harm. They will also offer guidance for overcoming the hurdles.
- Considerations when deciding whether to seek a TRO or PI
- Requirements for TROs and PIs
- The viability of the presumption of irreparable harm after eBay v. Mercexchange
- How to demonstrate irreparable harm in trademark cases
The panel will review these and other key issues:
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Strategic considerations to determine whether preliminary relief should be sought
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Steps to prove irreparable harm to obtain an injunction
- Practical lessons from rulings regarding TROs and PIs in recent trademark infringement cases
