Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Washington’s anti-SLAPP statutes are having an effect on trademark lawsuits.

The statutes, RCW 4.24.510 and .525, are intended to protect against lawsuits brought with the aim of discouraging persons from exercising their constitutional rights, otherwise known as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP).

In Phoenix Trading, Inc. v. Steven Kayser and Loops LLC, the plaintiff alleged that defendants made a number of statements to persons within the City and State of New York about plaintiff, including that plaintiff “had obtained products manufactured by defendants, altered those products by shaving or cutting defendants’ trademarks off of the products, and then labeled the packages of those products as having been manufactured by plaintiffs, thereby falsely representing to third parties that the altered product was manufactured by plaintiffs.”

On Nov. 21, the Western District granted defendants’ special motion to strike under the anti-SLAPP statute and threw the case out. In doing so, it awarded defendants their fees and costs, and $30,000 in statutory penalties ($10,000 per defendant).

Now, this principally was a defamation case, but it sure had Lanham Act overtones.

The case cite is Phoenix Trading, Inc. v. Steven Kayser, No. 10-920 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 21, 2011) (Robart, J.).