Robi v. Reed
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
173 F.3d 736 (1999)
- Written by Sarah Holley, JD
Facts
In 1953, Herb Reed (defendant) founded The Platters, a musical group comprised of four members. Reed was the group’s manager as well as one of the group’s original singers. In 1954, Paul Robi replaced one of The Platter’s original singers and performed with the group until his permanent departure in 1965. Despite the departure and replacement of other singers, Reed remained the group’s manager and last original singer since its inception. In 1988, Paul Robi assigned all of his rights in The Platters mark to his wife, Martha Robi (plaintiff), and died shortly thereafter. Since 1988, Martha Robi managed, booked, and presented a musical group called The Platters, but none of the singers had a connection to the original group. Martha Robi later brought suit against Reed, asserting that she had exclusive rights to The Platters name. Reed counterclaimed, maintaining that he had the exclusive rights to the mark as the founder and manager of the group. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of Reed. Martha Robi appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Keep, J.)
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