L.L. Bean, Inc. v. Drake Publishers, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
811 F.2d 26 (1987)
- Written by Emily Houde, JD
Facts
Drake Publishers, Inc. (Drake) (defendant) owned a magazine titled “High Society.” The magazine published an article titled “L.L. Beam’s Back-to-School-Sex-Catalog.” The article was labeled as humor and parody, and it contained a variation of L.L. Bean, Inc.’s (Bean) (plaintiff) trademark. Bean filed for a temporary restraining order against Drake to stop the circulation of the magazine issue containing the article. The district court denied Bean’s motion. Bean and Drake filed motions for summary judgment, and the district court denied the motions as applied to Bean’s trademark infringement claim. Bean’s motion was granted as applied to Bean’s trademark dilution claim. The court found that the article damaged Bean’s trademark by damaging Bean’s reputation and goodwill. Furthermore, the court found that stopping the circulation of the magazine issue containing the article did not violate the First Amendment, and distribution of the magazine issue was enjoined. Drake appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Bownes, J.)
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