General Conference Corp. of Seventh-Day Adventists v. Perez

97 F. Supp. 2d 1154, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6136, 2000 WL 553881
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedApril 27, 2000
DocketNo. 98-2940CIV
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 97 F. Supp. 2d 1154 (General Conference Corp. of Seventh-Day Adventists v. Perez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
General Conference Corp. of Seventh-Day Adventists v. Perez, 97 F. Supp. 2d 1154, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6136, 2000 WL 553881 (S.D. Fla. 2000).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

JAMES LAWRENCE KING, District Judge.

1. The Court has jurisdiction of this matter pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §§ 1121 and 1128 and pursuant to 38 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1337,1338, 2201 and 2202.

2. Venue is proper in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).

3. Plaintiff, GENERAL CONFERENCE CORPORATION OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS is a corporation of the District of Columbia, having its principal place of business at 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Maryland. The Plaintiff GENERAL CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS is an unincorporated association and is the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Plaintiff GENERAL CONFERENCE CORPORATION OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS is the corporate entity established by the Seventh-day Adventist Church to hold title to the spiritual church’s assets and to serve the spiritual church in carrying out its purposes. The Plaintiffs will be referred hereafter as “Plaintiff.”

4. The Defendant Raphael Perez is the managing agent and minister of THE ETERNAL GOSPEL CHURCH OF SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS (hereafter “Defendant’s Church”), an unincorporated association, and is a director of the Defendant MINISTERIO ADVENTISTA DEL SEPTIMO DIA DEL EVANGELIO ETERNO1 and the sole shareholder of ETERNAL GOSPEL CHURCH OF LAYMEN SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS, a Washington “sole” corporation. The other Defendants named in the amended complaint have not been served and Plaintiff is proceeding without their being served. The Defendants will be hereafter referred to as “Defendant.”

5. The Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq. provides that no person shall, without consent of the registrant, use in commerce any trademark if “such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake or to deceive.” Id. at § U14(l)(a).

6. Terms which may be registered as trademarks fall into four categories of strength (1) generic; (2) descriptive; (3) suggestive; or (4) arbitrary. American Television v. American Communications, 810 F.2d 1546, 1548 (11th Cir.1987); University of Georgia Athletic Ass’n v. Laite, 756 F.2d 1535, 1540 (11th Cir.1985). “Generic” terms are those which name “the genus or class of which an individual article or service is but a member.” “Descriptive” terms “identify a characteristic or quality of an article of service.” “Suggestive” terms suggest characteristics of the goods and services and “require an effort of the imagination by the consumer in order to be understood as descriptive.” “Fanciful” or “arbitrary” terms are words or phrases that bear no direct relationship to the product. Generic terms represent the weaker end of the spectrum and arbitrary terms represent the stronger. Vision Ctr. v. Opticks, 596 F.2d 111, 115 (5th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1016, 100 S.Ct. 668, 62 L.Ed.2d 646 (1980).

7. Generic terms may never be registered as trademarks under the Lanham Act. 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e). Descriptive terms may not be registered as trade[1157]*1157marks under the Lanham Act, unless the holder shows that the mark has acquired “secondary meaning.” 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(1), (f); Citibank, N.A. v. Citibank Group, Inc., 724 F.2d 1540, 1549 (11th Cir.1984); Abercrombie & Fitch Co. v. Hunting World, Inc., 537 F.2d 4, 10 (2d Cir.1976). Proof of secondary meaning in a trademark requires a showing that the mark has become distinctive of the trademark holder’s product or services.

8. Five years after registering a mark, the holder may file the affidavit required by § 1065 and have its marked declared “incontestable.” 15 U.S.C. § 1065(3). Once a mark has become “incontestable,” its validity is presumed, subject to certain enumerated defenses set out in 15 U.S.C. § 1115(b).2 Park ‘N Fly, Inc. v. Dollar Park and Fly, Inc., 469 U.S. 189, 105 S.Ct. 658, 83 L.Ed.2d 582 (1985). Dieter v. B & H Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc., 880 F.2d 322, 327 (11th Cir.1989).

9. The Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 1114(1) provides the Plaintiff in a trademark infringement action has made a pri-ma facie case if the Plaintiff shows first that its mark is valid and second that the Defendant’s use of Plaintiffs mark is likely to cause confusion. Determination of likelihood of confusion requires analysis of seven factors (1) type of mark, (2) similarity of marks, (3) similarity of the products and/or services the marks represent, (4) similarity of the parties’ retail outlets and customers, (5) the similarity of advertising media used, (6) Defendant’s intent and (7) actual confusion. Dieter v. B & H Indus. of Southwest Florida, Inc., 880 F.2d 322, 326 (11th Cir.1989), cert.denied, 498 U.S. 950, 111 S.Ct. 369, 112 L.Ed.2d 332 (1990).

10. In order to establish a likelihood of. confusion all factors do not have to be resolved in favor of the Plaintiff. Safeway Stores, Inc. v. Safeway Discount Drugs, Inc., 675 F.2d 1160, 1167 (11th Cir.1982).

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97 F. Supp. 2d 1154, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6136, 2000 WL 553881, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-conference-corp-of-seventh-day-adventists-v-perez-flsd-2000.