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Debbie Rohn, et vir v. Viacom International, Inc., et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 17-1225 · judgment December 18, 2017

Certiorari denied · June 4, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

Petitioners hold two incontestable marks: a word mark and a logo mark, for their Guppie Kids clothing line. Respondent Viacom entered the kids clothing business by way of its TV show, Bubble Guppies. Petitioners bring this reverse confusion claim because respondents overwhelmed and converted petitioners’ marks, about which respondents knew.

  1. Did the Sixth Circuit (the panel includes Circuit Judges Thapar, Kethledge and Siler) refuse to apply established reverse confusion law to petitioners’ claims?

  2. Did the Sixth Circuit follow established summary judgment standards that apply to mixed questions of law and fact, including under Hana Financial, in affirming the granting of respondents’ motion for summary judgment?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Thomas Hugh Blaske
Blaske & Blaske, P.L.C.

For respondent
J. Michael Huget
Honigman LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jun 04 2018
    Petition DENIED.
  2. May 15 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/31/2018.
  3. May 07 2018
    Waiver of right of respondents Viacom Int'l., Inc., et al. to respond filed.
  4. Apr 19 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 23, 2018)