False Origin Claims Applicable To Services As Well As Goods

M. Arthur Gensler, Jr. & Assoc. v. Strabala

Clarifying prior Lanham Act case law related to false designation of origin, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated a district court's dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), holding that § 43(a) of the Lanham Act can reach claims alleging false designation as to the origin of services as well as goods.  M. Arthur Gensler, Jr. & Assoc. v. Strabala, Case No. 12-2256 (7th Cir., Aug. 21, 2014) (Easterbrook, J.).

Jay Marshall Strabala was employed as a design director at the Gensler architectural design firm for nearly four years.  During this time, Strabala participated in the design of several major projects.  After leaving Gensler to set up his own competing architectural design company, Strabala set up two websites on which he claimed to have designed several of the projects for which Gensler was the architect of record, including the Shanghai Tower, the Hess Tower and the Houston Ballet Center.