Leapers, Inc. v. SMTS, LLC

879 F.3d 731
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 10, 2018
Docket17-1007
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 879 F.3d 731 (Leapers, Inc. v. SMTS, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leapers, Inc. v. SMTS, LLC, 879 F.3d 731 (6th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

OPINION

CLAY, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Leapers, Inc. appeals the district court’s entry of summary judgment for Defendant Sun Optics USA in Plaintiffs case alleging trade dress infringement under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051, et seq. For the reasons set forth below, we VACATE the district court’s judgment and REMAND the case for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Leapers, Inc. makes adjustable rifle scopes. Several portions of Plaintiffs products are textured with so-called “knurling,” which allows users to grip the products more easily and to make fine-tuned adjustments. Knurling can be found on a wide variety of everyday items such as door handles, coin edges, and bottle lids. Plaintiff asserts that it uses a unique knurling pattern that is distinctly “ornamental” and by which consumers recognize Plaintiff as the source of the product. ’

Plaintiff began manufacturing rifle scopes bearing this particular knurling design in 2002. Plaintiff later entered into an exclusive manufacturing contract with Chuanwen Shi and Donghui Yang of the Nantong WuYang Sporting Goods factory in China. As part of this contract, the factory managers agreed to “never disclose any information related to [Plaintiff’s] products.” (R. 109-at PagelD #4776.)

On November 17, 2011, Plaintiff ended its relationship with the Nantong WuYang factory, and factory representatives agreed to “cease using any and all technical specifications, product design documents, [and] packaging design documents related to any of [Plaintiffs] products” and to “[d]estroy any and all parts, accessories, attachments, and the like, related to any of [Plaintiffs] products previously produced to fulfill [Plaintiffs] orders.” {Id.) However, factory manager Shi apparently never followed through on this agreement. Instead, he formed a company called Trarms, Inc., through which he began selling rifle scopes himself. He also began manufacturing rifle scopes for other sellers of rifle scopes, including Defendant and another company, SMTS, LLC.

On June 10, 2014, Plaintiff filed suit against Defendant 1 seeking monetary and injunctive relief for trade dress infringement of Plaintiffs rifle scope knurling design. The case progressed to discovery, and factory manager Shi refused to testify, asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege to nearly every question asked. When Trarms, Inc. refused to provide an alternate witness, Plaintiff moved to compel discovery.

Defendant filed for summary judgment on . the basis that Plaintiff would not be able to prove two essential elements of its trade dress claim, namely nonfunctionality and secondary meaning. As, further discussed below;, the combination of these two elements ensures that a product feature receives trade dress protection only if it does not contribute to the product’s utility (ie., is.nonfunctional) and confers distinctiveness akin to a brand (ie., has a secondary meaning). Defendant argued that, the district court should grant summary judgment despite Plaintiffs, pending discovery motion because Shi’s testimony would be irrelevant to both.of these elements. Plaintiff opposed summary judgment, arguing ■that it had sufficiently supported its trade dress claim and that additional discovery from Shi or Trarms, Inc, would demonstrate that “[t]he elements, of [Plaintiffs] trade dress were not chosen for functional reasons and do not add to the functionality of the scopes to which they are applied.” (R. 81 ¶ 5(1); R. 84.) Plaintiff also argued that additional discovery was necessary on the issue of secondary meaning.

The district court granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The court rejected the notion that summary judgment was premature, concluding that Plaintiffs knurling design could not satisfy the nonfunctionality requirement. The court stated thaf additional discovery from Shi would provide “but one more concluso-ry opinion”, that, could not “change the fact that Plaintiffs trade dress is a functional grip, not just.decoration.” Leapers, Inc. v. SMTS, LLC, 2016 WL 8732507, at *8 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 25, 2016). The court’s holding did not reach the question of secondary meaning, but the court opined that Plaintiff had likely introduced enough evidence—although barely—to create a triable question on the issue.

The district court denied Plaintiffs motion for reconsideration and entered final judgment on December 2, 2016. Plaintiff then filed this timely appeal.

DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

We review de novo á district court’s grant of summary judgment in a trade dress claim case. See Gibson Guitar Corp. v. Paul Reed Smith Guitars, LP, 423 F.3d 539, 546 (6th Cir. 2005). Summary judgment is proper when “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Id. (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)). This Court must draw all reasonable inferences in ‘favor of the non-moving party. Id.

B. Analysis

The Lanham Act’s protection extends to trade dress. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Bros., 529 U.S. 205, 210, 120 S.Ct.. 1339, 146 L.Ed.2d 182 (2000); Groeneveld Transp. Efficiency, Inc. v. Lubecore Int’l., Inc., 730 F.3d 494, 503 (6th Cir. 2013). As this Court has previously explained:

“Trade dress” refers to the image and overall appearance of a product. It embodies that arrangement of identifying characteristics or decorations connected with a product, whether by packaging or otherwise, that makes the source of the product distinguishable from another and promotes its sales. Trade dress involves the total image of a product and may include features such as size, shape, color, or color combinations, texture, graphics, or even particular sales techniques.

Abercrombie & Pitch Stores, Inc. v. Am. Eagle Outfitters, Inc., 280 F.3d 619, 629 (6th Cir. 2002) (internal citations and punctuation marks omitted).

The Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C § 1125(a), creates a civil cause of action for trade dress infringement. In relevant part, the statute provides: .

Any person who, on or in connection with any goods or services, or any container for goods, uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, or any false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact, which—

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Bluebook (online)
879 F.3d 731, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leapers-inc-v-smts-llc-ca6-2018.