From our private database of 44,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.
Harley Davidson v. Grottanelli
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
164 F.3d 806 (1999)
Facts
Grottanelli (defendant) operated a motorcycle repair business called “The Hog Farm.” Harley Davidson (plaintiff) filed a common-law trademark infringement suit, claiming that the term “HOG” was a trademark of its motorcycles. The word “hog” appeared in dictionaries defined as a large motorcycle. In addition, as early as 1935, the media used term “hog” to describe motorcycles, generally, not necessarily those manufactured by Harley Davidson. Harley Davidson argued that the term had become specific to its own motorcycles and thus had acquired trademark status.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Newman, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 705,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 44,300 briefs, keyed to 983 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.
