[E-trademarks] Can an exclusive TM licensee without a written agreement sue for infringement?

[Jessica R. Friedman]

Thanks, Pam.

Jessica R. Friedman
Attorney at Law
300 East 59 Street, Ste. 2406
New York, NY 10022
Phone: 212-220-0900
Cell: 917-647-1884
E-mail: jrfriedman at litproplaw.com<mailto:jrfriedman at litproplaw.com>
URL: www.literarypropertylaw.com<http://www.literarypropertylaw.com>

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From: E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> on behalf of Pamela Chestek via E-trademarks <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 8:04 PM
To: e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
Cc: Pamela Chestek <pamela at chesteklegal.com>
Subject: Re: [E-trademarks] Can an exclusive TM licensee without a written agreement sue for infringement?
A licensee may have standing for a claim under Section 43(a) but not Section 32, because that section says that it is a claim for the registrant. Even under 43(a), my hot take is that the registrant may still be a necessary party to the suit, so then you have to figure out the joinder rules. You might be able to draft around joinder if the parties agree that the registrant cannot also bring a lawsuit, so the defendant isn't at a risk of a multiplicity of suits.

Pam
Pamela S. Chestek
Chestek Legal
300 Fayetteville Street
Unit 2492
Raleigh, NC 27602
pamela at chesteklegal.com<mailto:pamela at chesteklegal.com>
(919) 800-8033
www.chesteklegal.com<http://www.chesteklegal.com>
On 12/13/2023 2:43 PM, Jessica R. Friedman via E-trademarks wrote:
My client is the exclusive licensee of the right to market ABC products in the U.S., but it has no written license agreement.
My client and its licensor want my client to challenge a third-party PTO application to register a mark whose use would infringe the ABC mark.

I am aware of the 11th Circuit’s decision Overhead Door Company of Kansas City v. OGD Equipment Company, LLC, Case No. 22-10985 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 22, 2023), that even if a written trademark license doesn’t grant the right to sue for infringement of the trademark, the licensee still may be able to do so if the license doesn’t actually prohibit the licensee from doing so.

Should I just prepare a trademark license agreement that permits my client to sue for infringement and take all other actions to protect the ABC mark? Are there other cases I should be looking at?

Jessica R. Friedman
Attorney at Law
300 East 59 Street, Ste. 2406
New York, NY 10022
Phone: 212-220-0900
Cell: 917-647-1884
E-mail: jrfriedman at litproplaw.com<mailto:jrfriedman at litproplaw.com>
URL: www.literarypropertylaw.com<http://www.literarypropertylaw.com>

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