Lions Gate Pushes for Reconsideration of Trademark Fight With Ameritrade
Lions Gate Entertainment's bid to have a federal court reconsider its March order (in Pacer) dismissing its copyright and trademark infringement claim against Ameritrade and Havas Worldwide has been taken under submission, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson said in a…
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filing Monday (in Pacer). In its motion for reconsideration, Lions Gate said the court dismissed its trademark claims not on any copyright pre-emption but because the TV and film production company never specifically alleged or showed facts that the defendants had used Lionsgate's "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner" trademark as a trademark for their own services. But that order is based on old law, before the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA) changes in 2006, which now holds that a plaintiff doesn't need to prove a defendant used an identical or nearly identical trademark, Lions Gate said. It also said it did plead facts showing the defendants used "Nobody Puts Your Old 401k in a Corner" as a trademark for their own services. Ameritrade and Havas, in opposition (in Pacer) to reconsideration, called Lions Gate's move "a blatantly improper request for a second bite at the apple" since it presented no change in law or facts, and that any court misstatement of the similarity required under FTDA is immaterial since it wasn't the basis of the court's dismissal.