AM General LLC, the company in contract with the U.S Department
of Defence to build the Humvee military vehicle (High Mobility
Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle), sued Activision Blizzard, Inc., a
video game company, in 2017, alleging that Activision copied the
vehicle's design for several issues of the popular Call of Duty
video game franchise, as well as for repeatedly invoking the
"Humvee"
trademark and using the vehicle and trademarks in various
promotional materials. The defendant maintained that the First
Amendment's robust protection compelled dismissal of the AM
General's allegations.
Judgment
If the defendant's product is artistic or expressive, a
two-prong test articulated in Rogers v. Grimaldi, 875 F.2d
994 (2d Cir. 1989) is applied which under most
circumstances allows artistic or expressive works to use trademarks
without risking liability under the Lanham Act. This is done mainly
to protect speech under the First Amendment. The two prongs to the
test
