Survivor Media v. Survivor Productions

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 3, 2005
Docket02-17064
StatusPublished

This text of Survivor Media v. Survivor Productions (Survivor Media v. Survivor Productions) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Survivor Media v. Survivor Productions, (9th Cir. 2005).

Opinion

FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

SURFVIVOR MEDIA, INC.; PETER S.  DEPTULA, Plaintiffs-Appellants, No. 02-17064 v. SURVIVOR PRODUCTIONS; CBS  D.C. No. CV-01-00509-LEK BROADCASTING INC.; CBS OPINION WORLDWIDE, INC.; WPC BRANDS, INC., Defendants-Appellees.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii Leslie E. Kobayashi, Magistrate Judge, Presiding1

Argued May 4, 2004 Submitted May 14, 2004 Honolulu, Hawaii

Filed May 4, 2005

Before: Jerome Farris, John T. Noonan, and Johnnie B. Rawlinson, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Rawlinson

1 The parties consented to trial before a magistrate judge.

4839 4842 SURFVIVOR MEDIA v. SURVIVOR PRODUCTIONS

COUNSEL

Paul Maki, Honolulu, Hawaii, for the plaintiffs-appellants.

Andrew M. White, White O’Connor Curry & Avanzado LLP, Los Angeles, California, for the defendants-appellees.

OPINION

RAWLINSON, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiffs-Appellants Surfvivor Media, Inc., and Peter S. Deptula (collectively Surfvivor or Deptula) appeal the grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants-Appellees Sur- vivor Productions, L.L.C., et al. (collectively Survivor), on Surfvivor’s federal and state tradmark infringement claims. Surfvivor also challenges the magistrate judge’s ruling limit- SURFVIVOR MEDIA v. SURVIVOR PRODUCTIONS 4843 ing discovery to allow examination of only certain Survivor goods.

Because no material issue of fact was raised reflecting con- fusion between the marks, we affirm the entry of summary judgment in favor of Survivor. We also hold that the discov- ery rulings were well within the bounds of the court’s discre- tion.

I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

1. Plaintiffs-Appellants and the Surfvivor Mark

Deptula holds three federal trademarks for the mark “Surfvivor,” an amalgamation of the words “surf” and “survi- vor.” Deptula has adorned the majority of his Hawaiian beach-themed products, ranging from sunscreen, to t-shirts, to surfboards, with that mark. Of these products, approximately thirty to fifty percent of Plaintiff’s wares are emblazoned with the Surfvivor mark alone. The remaining wares sport a tiny Surfvivor mark along with a third-party logo, such as a col- lege insignia.

Visually, the Surfvivor mark consists of the term “Surfvi- vor” in block or cursive writing, often accompanied by a styl- ized graphic, such as a sun or a surfer. Deptala has been using this mark for several years and has advertised his wares on local television and radio shows, on his website, and at local trade shows. Surfvivor goods are primarily sold to Hawaiian consumers through the local university, a chain of drugstores, military exchanges, and Hawaiian branches of major retailers. Deptula would like to expand Surfvivor’s out-of-state pres- ence, but has not made any firm plans to do so.

2. Defendants-Appellees and the Survivor Mark

Several years after Deptula coined the “Surfvivor” name, the Defendants-Appellees began broadcasting a reality televi- 4844 SURFVIVOR MEDIA v. SURVIVOR PRODUCTIONS sion show, Survivor, involving a cast that must survive in extreme outdoor conditions. The show has been a viewer favorite for several years.

Survivor’s producers created a special Survivor logo for advertising and marketing purposes. As with the Surfvivor mark, the Survivor mark is emblazoned on a wide range of consumer merchandise, including t-shirts, shorts, and hats. The Survivor mark consists of the word “Survivor” in block script, and is often accompanied by the words “outwit[,] out- play[, and] outlast,” or is superimposed on a stylized graphic suggesting the location of a particular series.

Survivor’s producers acknowledge awareness of Deptula’s mark.

3. Evidence of Actual Confusion

After Survivor aired, Deptula encountered a few people who wondered whether his business was sponsored by Survi- vor. One retailer and one customer mistook Survivor sun- screen for Deptula’s product, and one trade show attendee thought that Deptula’s business was endorsed by Survivor’s producers.

Survivor never received any complaints from confused cus- tomers, and a survey commissioned by Survivor revealed that fewer than two percent of four hundred and two sunscreen purchasers were confused by the two marks. None of Dep- tula’s customers ever returned any Surfvivor goods because of a mistaken belief that the goods they purchased were pro- duced or endorsed by Survivor. No merchant stopped doing business with Deptula on account of confusion between the product lines.

B. Procedural Background

Deptula filed suit against Survivor for trademark infringe- ment. During the course of pretrial litigation, Deptula peti- SURFVIVOR MEDIA v. SURVIVOR PRODUCTIONS 4845 tioned the court for an order compelling discovery of any Survivor goods or services beyond “t-shirts, sunscreen and lipbalm.” In response, the court limited discovery to Survivor t-shirts, sunscreen and lip balm, concluding that any other evi- dence would be irrelevant.

Survivor subsequently moved for summary judgment, which was granted on the basis that Deptula failed to present sufficient evidence to prove one of the elements of a trade- mark infringement claim — whether the marks are similar enough to create a “likelihood of confusion.” Because Dep- tula’s state law claims relied on the same likelihood of confu- sion standard as Deptula’s federal claim, the state law claims were also dismissed. Deptula filed a timely appeal.

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

The decision to grant summary judgment in a trademark infringement claim is reviewed de novo, and all reasonable inferences are to be drawn in favor of the non-moving party. See Dreamwerks Prod. Group, Inc. v. SKG Studio, 142 F.3d 1127, 1129 (9th Cir. 1998). We may affirm on any basis find- ing support in the record. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands v. United States, 399 F.3d 1057, 1060 (9th Cir. 2005). Although disfavored in trademark infringement cases, summary judgment may be entered when no genuine issue of material fact exists. See Thane Int’l, Inc. v. Trek Bicy- cle Corp., 305 F.3d 894, 901-02 (9th Cir. 2002).

Discovery rulings are reviewed for an abuse of discretion. See Garneau v. City of Seattle, 147 F.3d 802, 812 (9th Cir. 1998). This standard also applies to rulings regarding the rele- vance of evidence.2 See id. 2 Deptula contends that in Cacique, Inc. v. Robert Reiser & Co., Inc., 169 F.3d 619, 622 (9th Cir. 1999), we held that a denial of discovery on relevancy grounds involves a question of law reviewed de novo. Deptula posits that determining the relevance of the evidence in a trademark 4846 SURFVIVOR MEDIA v. SURVIVOR PRODUCTIONS III. ANALYSIS

[1] Deptula asserts infringement claims under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1114, and related state law claims. A suc- cessful trademark infringement claim under the Lanham Act requires a showing that the claimant holds a protectable mark, and that the alleged infringer’s imitating mark is similar enough to “cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive.” KP Permanent Make-Up, Inc. v. Lasting Impression I, Inc., 125 S. Ct.

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