Belmora LLC, et al. v. Bayer Consumer Care AG, et al.

Trademarks are territorial. Their existence, and the protection that they provide to trademark owners, do not extend beyond the borders of the nations in which they are registered or used. The Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq., provides protection for trademarks that their owners register with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or otherwise use in U.S. commerce. Under § 43(a) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a), however, trademark owners can be sued for false association and/or false advertising. Along the same lines, section 14(3) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1064(3), authorizes the filing of a petition with the USPTO to cancel a registered trademark if it is being used to mispresent the source of goods. The questions presented are—

1. Whether, in view of the principle of trademark territoriality, the zone of interests encompassed by Lanham Act §§ 43(a) and 14(3) extends to the foreign owner of a foreign trademark that has not registered or used the mark in the United States.

2. Whether, in the absence of an express limitations period in the Lanham Act, the timeliness of a § 43(a) suit for false association and false advertising is governed by the most analogous statelaw statute of limitations, or instead, by laches.