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Paule McKenna v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc., et al.

Paid petition · Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, No. B304256, B310814 · judgment February 15, 2023


Certiorari denied · October 10, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

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

Question presented

Does the Lanham Act properly prohibit the unauthorized use of a celebrity’s persona advertising third party brands with logos in a commercial motion picture as a trademark infringement?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
David Zarmi
Zarmi Law

For respondent
Louis P. Petrich
Ballard Spahr LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
23A46

Proceedings

  1. Oct 10 2023
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Sep 20 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/6/2023.
  3. Sep 14 2023
    Waiver of right of respondent Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc., et al. to respond filed.
  4. Sep 05 2023
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 12, 2023)
  5. Jul 20 2023
    Application (23A46) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until September 5, 2023.
  6. Jul 14 2023
    Application (23A46) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 25, 2023 to September 5, 2023, submitted to Justice Kagan.