Commodores Entm't Corp. v. McClary

324 F. Supp. 3d 1245
District Court, M.D. Florida·Decided August 23, 2018·No. Case No. 6:14-cv-1335-Orl-37GJK·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

ROY B. DALTON JR., United States District Judge

Before the Court is another farewell tour in this long-running trademark dispute. Specifically, Plaintiff Commodores Entertainment Company's ("CEC ") Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 411 ("SJ Motion ") ) and Defendants Thomas McClary ("McClary ") and Fifth Avenue Entertainment, LLC's ("Fifth Avenue ") response (Doc. 417). On review, the SJ Motion is due to be granted in part and denied in part.

*1250I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This action requires no opening act: so the Court repeats only the procedural history necessary to resolve the SJ Motion. CEC initiated this action alleging that McClary and Fifth Avenue infringed CEC's trademarks related to the band "The Commodores" ("Marks "). (Doc. 1.) McClary and Fifth Avenue then separately answered the complaint and filed counterclaims against CEC. (Docs. 59, 79.) McClary and Fifth Avenue also filed a third-party complaint against several individuals and two entities they claimed were distinct from CEC-"Commodores Entertainment Corp." and "Commodore Entertainment Corp." (collectively, "Commodore Corp "). (Doc. 55.) After whittling down the Third-Party Defendants, three remain-David Fish, William King, and Walter Orange (collectively with CEC, "Movants "). (See Doc. 197 (striking Commodore Corp and rejecting the theory that they were in fact separate from CEC).)

The Court then bifurcated this action into two phases: "Phase I" focused on ownership of the Marks and Phase II covers liability and damages. (Doc. 310.) Having concluded that CEC owns the Marks, Phase I has been resolved. See Commodores Entm't Corp. v. McClary , 879 F.3d 1114, 1132-33 (11th Cir. 2018), cert. docketed (affirming the district court's grant of judgment as a matter of law on the issue of CEC's ownership in the Marks). With this, the Court directed the parties to submit a joint notice identifying the remaining claims for Phase II. (Doc. 403 ("Joint Notice ").) The Court then set the matter for a Preliminary Pretrial Conference ("PPTC ") and allowed the parties to move for summary judgment on claims the parties believed were capable of resolution as a matter of law. (Doc. 406.) CEC then filed the SJ Motion (Doc. 411) and McClary and Fifth Avenue responded (Doc. 417). At the PPTC, the Court heard argument on the SJ Motion and the claims raised in the Joint Notice and made several rulings from the bench. (See Doc. 422.) This Order follows.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate only if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that [it] is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) ; Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). As to issues for which the movant would bear the burden of proof at trial, it must affirmatively show the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and support its motion with credible evidence demonstrating that no reasonable jury could find for the nonmoving party on all of the essential elements of its case. Fitzpatrick v. City of Atlanta , 2 F.3d 1112, 1115 (11th Cir. 1993) (citing United States v. Four Parcels of Real Prop. in Greene & Tuscaloosa Ctys. , 941 F.2d 1428, 1438 (11th Cir. 1991) ).

As to issues for which the nonmovant would bear the burden of proof at trial, the movant has two options: (1) it may simply point out an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case; or (2) it may provide "affirmative evidence demonstrating that the nonmoving party will be unable to prove its case at trial." Four Parcels , 941 F.2d at 1438 (citing Celotex Corp. , 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548 ). "The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party, who must go beyond the pleadings and present affirmative evidence to show that a genuine issue of material fact exists." Porter v. Ray , 461 F.3d 1315, 1320 (11th Cir. 2006) (citing Fitzpatrick , 2 F.3d at 1115-17 ).

*1251"A factual dispute is genuine 'if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.' " Four Parcels , 941 F.2d at 1437 (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) ). A court must view the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, Battle v. Bd. of Regents , 468 F.3d 755, 759 (11th Cir. 2006), such that "when conflict arises between the facts evidenced by the parties, [the] court credit[s] the nonmoving party's version," Evans v. Stephens ,

Commodores Entm't Corp. v. McClary, 324 F. Supp. 3d 1245 (M.D. Fla. 2018).

324 F. Supp. 3d 1245 (Commodores Entm't Corp. v. McClary) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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