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Craft Smith LLC v. EC Design LLC

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
969 F.3d 1092 (2020)

Written by Eric Miller, JD

Facts

In 2015, EC Design LLC (defendant) began selling a personal organizer called the LifePlanner. The product included planning calendars, inspirational quotes, and colorful artwork. Craft Smith LLC (plaintiff) sought to enter the personal-planner market with the Recollections Planner, a product that used the same basic layout as the LifePlanner, but with different quotations and artwork. EC Design gave Craft Smith notice of infringement. Craft Smith sought a declaratory judgment of noninfringement in federal district court. EC Design counterclaimed for copyright and trade-dress infringement. Both sides moved for summary judgment. The court denied EC Design’s motion and granted summary judgment in favor of Craft Smith on the copyright and trade-dress claims. EC Design appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Rule of Law

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (Phillips, J.)

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