BELMORA LLC v. BAYER CONSUMER CARE AG

No. 15-1335.

819 F.3d 697 (2016)

BELMORA LLC, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. BAYER CONSUMER CARE AG, a Swiss corporation; Bayer Healthcare LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company, Defendants-Consolidated Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Belmora LLC, a Virginia Limited Liability Company; Jamie Belcastro, an individual; Does, 1-10, inclusive, Consolidated Defendants-Appellees, and Michelle K. Lee, Undersecretary for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Director), Intervenor. American Intellectual Property Law Association, Amicus Curiae.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided: March 23, 2016.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

ARGUED: Bradley Louis Cohn , Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson LLP, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellants. Martin Schwimmer , Leason Ellis LLP, White Plains, New York, for Appellee. Lewis Yelin , United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Intervenor. ON BRIEF: Phillip Barengolts , Andrew R.W. Hughes , Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson LLP, Chicago, Illinois; Robert J. Shaughnessy , Eric C. Wiener , Williams & Connolly LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellants. Craig C. Reilly , Alexandria, Virginia; John L. Welch , WOLF, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C., Boston, Massachusetts; Lauren B. Sabol , Leason Ellis LLP, White Plains, New York; Rebecca Tushnet , Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., for Appellees. Mark R. Freeman , Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; Dana J. Boente , United States Attorney, Benjamin C. Mizer , Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of the United States Attorney, Washington, D.C.; Nathan K. Kelley , Solicitor, Christina J. Hieber , Associate Solicitor, Mary Beth Walker , Associate Solicitor, Benjamin T. Hickman , Associate Solicitor, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Alexandria, Virginia, for Intervenor. Sharon A. Israel , President, American Intellectual Property Law Association, Inc., Arlington, Virginia; Jennifer L. Kovalcik , Stites & Harbison, PLLC, Nashville, Tennessee, for Amicus Curiae.

Vacated and remanded by published opinion. Judge AGEE wrote the opinion, in which Judge FLOYD and Judge THACKER joined.


In this unfair competition case, we consider whether the Lanham Act permits the owner of a foreign trademark and its sister company to pursue false association, false advertising, and trademark cancellation claims against the owner of the same mark in the United States. Bayer Consumer Care AG ("BCC") owns the trademark "FLANAX...

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