Midwest Plastic Fabricators, Inc. v. Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
906 F.2d 1568 (1990)
- Written by Jack Newell, JD
Facts
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) (defendant) was a company that set safety standards for thousands of consumer products. Midwest Plastic Fabricators (Midwest) (plaintiff) was a manufacturer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Midwest entered into a contract with UL whereby Midwest would manufacture products in line with UL’s safety standards, and UL would allow use of its certification mark. Later, Midwest petitioned the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to cancel UL’s certification mark on the grounds that the mark was used for things other than certification, and because UL had failed to control the mark’s use. Midwest cited as evidence that companies had given themselves the mark and that companies had counterfeited it. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) ruled in favor of UL, declining to invalidate its trademark. Midwest appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Michel, J.)
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