Lupinetti v. Department of State

926 A.2d 1210, 2007 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 300
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 7, 2007
StatusPublished

This text of 926 A.2d 1210 (Lupinetti v. Department of State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lupinetti v. Department of State, 926 A.2d 1210, 2007 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 300 (Pa. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION BY

Judge SIMPSON.

Stephen T. Lupinetti (Lupinetti) petitions for review of an order of the Secretary of the Commonwealth (Secretary), on behalf of the Department of State (Department), which denied Lupinetti’s petition to cancel trademarks. Pursuant to Section 1116(a) of the Pennsylvania Trademark Act (PTMA), 54 Pa.C.S. § 1116(a) Lupinet-ti petitioned to cancel the marks “Miss Pittsburgh” and “Miss Pittsburgh®.” Michele J. Alexander, individually, and trading as WinACrown by Lily Entertainment (Second Registrant), intervenes in this appeal. For the following reasons, we affirm.

I. Background

In January 1996, Coronation, Inc., by its president, Lori Sikorszky (First Registrant), filed an application with the Department for registration of the mark “Miss Pittsburgh,” a title awarded to the annual winner of the Miss Pittsburgh pageant. On the same day, the Department registered the mark as entity # 2673230.

In October 1996, First Registrant applied for registration of the mark in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USP-TO). In response, another Pittsburgh area pageant conductor filed a notice of opposition with the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (Trademark Board). First Registrant did not answer, and the Trademark Board entered a default judgment against First Registrant. Consequently, the USPTO refused First Registrant’s application for registration.

Lupinetti became involved with the Miss Pennsylvania Scholarship Organization in 1997. The Miss Pennsylvania organization, affiliated with the Miss America organization, gave Lupinetti a franchise to conduct a local Miss Pittsburgh contest in the Pittsburgh area. Lupinetti conducted a Miss Pittsburgh scholarship pageant in 1997, 1998 and 1999. After a reprieve for work-related travel, Lupinetti again conducted the pageant in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

First Registrant conducted a Miss Pittsburgh pageant in 1997. Second Registrant’s daughter, Shani J. Alexander, won the pageant. Approximately six months later, First Registrant returned to graduate school and turned over the Miss Pittsburgh pageant to Second Registrant. Second Registrant and her daughter operated a Miss Pittsburgh pageant every year since 1998. Lupinetti and Second Registrant are former friends; Lupinetti served as a judge at several of Second Registrant’s pageants. In 2003 and 2004, Lupi-netti co-direeted a pageant for the Miss America organization called Miss Pittsburgh/Miss Golden Triangle. However, Second Registrant decided she could no longer work with Lupinetti because of problems with the 2004 Miss Pittsburgh/Miss Golden Triangle pageant.

In October 2004, Second Registrant applied to the Department for assignment of registration of the “Miss Pittsburgh” mark, identified in the application as “Miss Pittsburgh®,” from First Registrant to Second Registrant. The application did not contain a response to an inquiry about [1212]*1212First Registrant’s application for USPTO registration. Second Registrant did not indicate the USPTO previously refused First Registrant’s request for federal registration. The Department effected the assignment, but simply recorded the mark as “Miss Pittsburgh.”

In August 2005, Lupinetti, pursuant to 54 Pa. C.S § 1116(a),1 filed a petition to cancel the marks “Miss Pittsburgh” and “Miss Pittsburgh®.” In response, Second Registrant applied for renewal of the mark “Miss Pittsburgh,” entity # 2673230, showing an assignment from First Registrant. In the renewal application, Second Registrant did indicate the USPTO entered a default judgment against First Registrant and refused registration. The Department granted the application and renewed the mark, “Miss Pittsburgh,” in Second Registrant’s name.

In his petition to cancel, Lupinetti alleged various grounds for. cancellation under 54 Pa.C.S. § 1116(a), including failure to timely renew under the new five-year renewal requirement in 54 Pa.C.S. § 1114(a), erroneous registration based upon First Registrant’s misrepresentation as to first use, geographic descriptiveness, abandonment, and improper assignment. Second Registrant filed a timely reply.

Thereafter, the Secretary held an adjudicatory hearing at which both Lupinetti and Second Registrant presented evidence. In his subsequent decision, the Secretary made the following relevant conclusions of law:

3. The “Miss Pittsburgh” mark registered to entity number 2673230 is not subject to cancellation under [54 Pa.C.S. § 1116(a)(1)], because it was renewed within 10 years of the date it was registered, in accordance with [54 Pa.C.S. § 1114(a)] (Findings of Fact, Nos. 6-7, 31-33).
4. The “Miss Pittsburgh” mark registered to entity number 2673230 is not subject to cancellation under [54 Pa.C.S. § 1116(a)(3)(ii)], on grounds that a default judgment of the [Trademark Board] of the [USPTO] found that the registrant is not the owner of the mark, because the [Trademark Board] is not a court of competent jurisdiction. (Findings of Fact, Nos. 8-12).
5. The “Miss Pittsburgh” mark registered to entity number 2673230 is not subject to cancellation under [54 Pa.C.S. § 1116(a) (3) (iii)] on grounds that default judgment of the [Trademark Board] of the [USPTO] found that the registration was not granted improperly, because the [Trademark Board] is not a court of competent jurisdiction. (Findings of Fact, Nos. 8-12)
[1213]*12136. The “Miss Pittsburgh” mark registered to entity number 2673280 is not subject to cancellation under [54 Pa.C.S. § 1116(a)(5)(iv)], because, even if [First Registrant] abandoned or discontinued the registration between 1997 and the date [First Registrant] assigned the mark in 2004, such abandonment or nonuse has not persisted since assignment of the mark. (Findings of Fact, Nos. 6-7, 20-21, 26-33).
7. The “Miss Pittsburgh” mark registered to entity number 2673230 is not subject to cancellation on grounds that the registration was granted improperly because the Department is not a court of competent jurisdiction and only a court of competent jurisdiction, under [54- Pa. C.S. § 1116(a)(3)(iii)] has the authority to make such a finding.
8. The “Miss Pittsburgh” mark registered to entity number 2673230 is not subject to cancellation on grounds that [Second Registrant] illegally used the “®” in connection with the mark because the Department is not a court of competent jurisdiction, and only a court of competent jurisdiction under [54 Pa. C.S. § 1116(a)(4)], [has the authority to cancel a registration on any grounds].

Sec’s Adj. at 9-10 (emphasis added).

Based on the above conclusions, the Secretary denied Lupinetti’s petition to cancel trademarks. Lupinetti petitions for review.2

II. Issues

Lupinetti advances four arguments. First, he asserts the Secretary erred by ruling the Department lacked subject matter jurisdiction to cancel the mark at issue where the Department registered the mark in error based on an alleged misrepresentation as to first use by the First Registrant and/or because the mark is primarily geographically descriptive. Second, Lupinetti argues the Secretary erred as a matter of law by ruling it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to cancel the mark on abandonment grounds.

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926 A.2d 1210, 2007 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 300, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lupinetti-v-department-of-state-pacommwct-2007.