A rival liquor maker accusing Bacardi of pirating the concept
for its "Untameable" rum campaign urged the Ninth Circuit
on Friday to toss a district court's finding that its trademark
priority doesn't allow it to introduce a new product and then
claim marketplace confusion after Bacardi's alleged
infringement began.
During oral arguments, Lodestar Anstalt's attorney, G.
Warren Bleeker of Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP told the
three-judge panel that a California federal judge erred when she
denied summary judgment, arguing that trademark law gives a
registered mark owner a number of years to develop a product, so
that if another company infringes the mark, the owner can still
protect its intellectual property.
