United States v. Petrosian
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
126 F.3d 1232 (1997)
- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
Vatchagan Petrosian (defendant) and two associates filled Coca-Cola bottles with carbonated beverages that looked like Coca-Cola but were not and sold them to purchasers as genuine Coca-Cola. Petrosian was convicted of violating the Trademark Counterfeiting Act, which prohibited the trafficking of goods knowingly using a counterfeit mark. Petrosian appealed, arguing that the trial court erred by instructing the jury that the term counterfeit mark included genuine trademarks affixed to packaging containing products that were not made by the trademark owner. The government argued that the court’s instructions reflected the proper definition of a spurious mark, which fell within the definition of a counterfeit mark.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Browning, Thompson, Thomas, J.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 790,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 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.
