Yellowbook Inc. v. Brandeberry

In 1994, Steven Brandeberry (defendant) entered into an asset-purchase agreement and license agreement with a phonebook company under the unregistered mark AMTEL (the 1994 agreement). Brandeberry signed the agreements individually and as president of American Telephone Directories, Inc. (American Telephone). Brandeberry marketed the directory as AMTEL, but never registered the AMTEL mark. In 2002, Brandeberry sold AMTEL to Barney White (the 2002 agreement). The only signed contract on record transferred the entirety of the AMTEL business to White. White later registered the AMTEL mark with the state of Ohio. In 2007, White sold the business in its entirety to Yellowbook, Inc. (Yellowbook) (plaintiff). In 2009, after the 2008 expiration of White’s registration, Brandeberry registered the AMTEL name and started a rival phonebook business. Yellowbook sued, alleging trademark infringement and interference with business relations. Brandeberry counterclaimed for defamation. The district court found for Brandeberry on the trademark infringement and tortious interference claims against Brandeberry personally and the trademark-infringement claim against his company, but the court found for Yellowbook on the tortious interference claim against Brandeberry’s corporation. Yellowbook appealed the district court’s denial of summary judgment on Yellowbook’s trademark-infringement claims.