Law Commons^™

Vol. 6 No. 2, Spring 2015; A Circuit Split Involving Ten Federal Circuits: Why Copyright Infringement Actions Should Be Allowed To Proceed After An Application For A Copyright Is Filed, Morgan Johnson

Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement

In 2010, the Supreme Court’s decision of Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick addressed the subject matter jurisdiction of a trademark infringement claim. Not only did this avoid the larger question of when a trademark is “registered” under § 411(a), but it lead to further division among the circuit courts. Section 411(a) sets forth the requirements for a trademark infringement suit to be filed; most importantly that it must be “registered.” The registration approach has determined that a trademark is only registered when a party receives an affirmative or negative response, directly from the Copyright Office. The application approach, however, finds …