International Kennel Club of Chicago, Inc. v. Mighty Star, inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
846 F.2d 1079 (1988)
- Written by Jack Newell, JD
Facts
The International Kennel Club of Chicago (IKC) (plaintiff) was an organization that among other things put on dog shows and engaged in the pedigree registration of purebred dogs. At IKC’s dog shows, it charged vendors a fee to set up stalls for selling to attendees. Mighty Star was a seller of stuffed animals. Mighty Star began selling a new line of stuffed dogs under the mark “International Kennel Club.” Mighty Star also started a promotion where purchasers of the stuffed dogs could get a so-called registration of their stuffed dogs’ pedigrees under the “International Kennel Club.” After receiving calls about Mighty Star’s product, IKC brought suit on the ground that Mighty Star was infringing on its trademark. Mighty Star claimed that “International Kennel Club” was a merely descriptive term and therefore could not get trademark protection. The district court issued a preliminary injunction, stopping Mighty Star from marketing or selling its International Kennel Club product line. Mighty Star appealed to the Seventh Circuit.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Coffey, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 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.
