Brunswick Corp. v. Spinit Reel Co.

832 F.2d 513 (1987)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
B
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Brunswick Corp. v. Spinit Reel Co.

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
832 F.2d 513 (1987)

Facts

A division of Brunswick Corporation (plaintiff) manufactured and sold fishing reels. Spinit Reel Company (Spinit) (defendant) also manufactured and sold fishing reels and was founded by a former Brunswick employee. Brunswick and Spinit sold reels in the same marketing channels and were direct competitors. The district court found that Spinit had copied one of Brunswick’s spin-cast reels in violation of § 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125. The court also determined that there was actual confusion among consumers and retailers. Brunswick submitted evidence that its sales of spin-cast reels had declined and that its sales of the reel that Spinit copied had declined by an even wider margin. In response, Spinit introduced evidence suggesting that the introduction of new reels to the market by other competitors might have contributed to Brunswick’s weak sales. Brunswick argued that it lost one sale of its reel as a result of each unit Spinit sold of the infringing reel. The district court issued an injunction but declined to award monetary damages, and Brunswick appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (McKay, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 821,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 821,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 989 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 821,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 989 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Trademark

Key Terms