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ARTICLE · 19 JANUARY 2015

"Underhanded" Settlement Tactics Did Not Constitute Fraud

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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The Southern District of Indiana recently issued a decision reiterating the "steep mountain" plaintiffs must climb to successfully allege common law fraud or cancel a trademark registration based upon fraud.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Morgan Smith
Morgan Smith
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The Southern District of Indiana recently issued a decision reiterating the "steep mountain" plaintiffs must climb to successfully allege common law fraud or cancel a trademark registration based upon fraud.

The parties in Heckler & Koch, Inc. v. German Sports Guns GmbH, No. 1:11-cv-01108-SEB-TAB (S.D. Ind. Dec. 24, 2014), each gun manufacturing firms, have a contentious history. In 2009, Heckler & Koch USA brought a trademark infringement and trade dress suit against defendants based upon a trademark that was subsequently assigned to Heckler & Koch Germany. Heckler & Koch USA failed to inform the defendants of the assignment, or to record such assignment with the USPTO until eight months after the litigating parties reached a final settlement.

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