437 F. Supp. 2d 312 - Tillery v. Leonard & Sciolla, LLP’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A personal name acquires secondary meaning as a mark “when the name and the business become synonymous in the public mind” and the secondary meaning “submerges the primary meaning of the name as a word identifying a person, in favor of its meaning as a word identifying that business.” 2 McCarthy on Trademarks 13.3 (internal citations omitted); accord Paco Sport, Ltd. v. Paco Rabanne Perfumes, 234 F.3d 1262 , 2000 WL 1721126 (2d Cir.2000). “Proof of secondary meaning entails vigorous evidentiary requirements .... The plaintiff must not only show that it used a personal name as a trademark, but that a substantial portion of the consuming public associates [the name] specifically with [its] business.” Flynn v. AK Peters, Ltd., 377 F.3d 13, 20 (1st Cir.2004) (internal citation omitted). If the mark is primarily a personal name, then the senior user must prove the existence of secondary meaning in its mark at the time and place that the junior user first began use of that mark. Johnny Blastoff v. L.A. Rams Football Co., 188 F.3d 427, 433-34 (7th Cir.1999).”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 527 F. Supp. 2d 422 - Lewis v. Marriott International, Inc. · 2012 Pa. Super. 258 - Majorsky v. Douglas

2. “[T]he Third Circuit has enumerated the following factors to guide an inquiry of whether secondary meaning exists: (1) the extent of sales and advertising leading to buyer association; (2) length of use; (3) exclusivity of use; (4) the fact of copying; (5) customer surveys; (6) customer testimony; (7) the use of the mark in trade journals; (8) the size of the company; (9) the number of sales; (10) the number of customers; and (11) actual confusion. These factors are a nonexclusive list, and therefore the absence of any particular factor does not require dismissal.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 2012 Pa. Super. 258 - Majorsky v. Douglas

3. “(A) is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association of such person with another person, or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of his or her goods, services, or commercial activities by another person, or (B) in commercial advertising or promotion, misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin of his or her or another person’s goods, services, or commercial activities....”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 2012 Pa. Super. 258 - Majorsky v. Douglas