N O T FO R PUB L ICAT IO N UNITED STATES C OUR T OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH C IR C UIT
TRP ENTER TAINM E NT, LLC , Plaintiff - Appe lla nt,
v. B ARR IE C UNNINGHAM , De fe nda

nt - Appe lle e . No. 13-16754 D.C . No. 2:08-c v-00579-LDGC W H
M EM O R ANDUM *

Appe a l from

the Unite d

Stat e s Distric t C ourt for the Distric t of Ne v a da L loy d D. Ge orge , Se nior Distric t Judge , Pre siding Subm itte d

Nove m b e r 18, 2015 ** San Fran c isc o , C a lifornia B e fore : KLEINFELD, W ARD L AW , a

nd PAEZ, C irc uit Judge s. TRP Ente rta inm e nt, LLC (“ TRP” ) a ppe a ls the distric t c ourt’ s gra n t of pa rtia l
sum m ary judgm e nt to B arrie C unningha m . W e hav e jurisdic tion unde r 28 U.S.C
. § 1291. W e a ffirm an d re m an d. 

# FIL ED FEB 16 2016 M OLLY C. DW Y ER, CLERK U
. S

. CO URT O F APPEALS

* This disposition is not a ppropria te for public a t ion a

nd is not pre c e de nt e xc e pt a s provide d

by 9th C ir. R . 36-3. ** The pa

ne l una nim ously c onc lude s this c a se is suita ble for de c ision without ora l a

rgum e nt. Se e Fe d. R . App. P. 34(a )(2).1. The distric t c ourt c orre c tly rule d tha t the te rm “ The R at Pa c k” is ge ne ric in the c onte x t of live shows a bout or in tribute

to m e m be rs of the R at Pa c k. Ge ne ric t e rm s prim arily de sc ribe the ty pe of produc t, rathe r tha

n the produc e r, and
are i ne ligiblefor tra de m ark prote c tion. F ilipino Ye llow

Page s, Inc . v . Asian J ournal Publ’ns, Inc

. , 198 F.3d 1143, 1147 (9th C ir. 1999). Vie we d in the light
m ost fa vora ble to TR P, the re c ord de m o nstra

te s tha t the te rm “ The R a t Pa c k” de sc ribe s a

ty pe of live e nte rta inm e nt show a nd doe s not ide ntify

any pa rtic ula r produc e r of a

R a t Pa c k tribute show. First, the re c ord indic a te s tha

t at le a st twe nty produc e rs of R a t Pa c k tribute shows ha d use d the te rm “ R a t Pa c k” in the ir shows’ title s a s of the y e ar 2008. Se e A dv e rtise .c om, Inc . v . AOL Adv e rt., Inc
. , 616 F.3d 974, 980 (9th C ir. 2010). Se c ond, TR P and its owne r have use d the te rm ge ne ric a lly , re fe rring to R at Pa c k pe rform anc e s a s a

“ g e nre ” of e nte rta inm e nt. Se e Filipino Ye llow

Page s , 198 F.3d a

t 1150–51. Finally , num e rous ne ws a rtic le s indic a te tha

t the m e dia

and othe r third pa

rtie s ha ve a lso use d the te rm

in a ge ne ric
se nse . Se e id. at 1151. TR P did not re but this e vide nc e with suffic ie nt e vide nc e of nonge ne ric ne ss. The re fore , the distric t c ourt did not err in de t e rm i ning tha t “ The R a t Pa c k” is ge ne ric i n the c onte xt of liveshows a bout or in tribute

to m e m be rs of the R a t Pa c k.

-2-2. The distric t c ourt did not a buse its disc re tion in orde ring a disc la im e r of the te rm

“ The R a t Pa c k” m odify ing TR P’ s tra de m ark re gistra

t ion. Unde r 15 U.S.C . § 1119, a

c ourt m ay

orde r the m odific a tion of a tra de m ark re gistra

t ion to inc l ude a disc la im e r of ge ne ric c om pone nts. Se e id. §§ 1056(a ), 1119. B e c a use the t e rm “ The R at Pa c k” is a

ge ne ric c om

pone nt of TR

P’ s re giste re d tra de m ark, the distric t c o urt wa s within its disc re tion to re quire a

disc la im e r of the te rm . 3. The distric t c ourt did not err in im plic itly de ny ing TR

P’ s re que st to de ny or sta y C unningha

m ’ s m otion for sum

m ary judgm e nt until the

c om ple tion of disc ove ry . Se e Fe d. R
. C iv. P. 56(d). Although TR P dilige ntly pursue d

disc ove ry prior to C unningha

m ’ s m otion, TR

P fa ile d to de m onstra

te tha t furthe r disc ove ry would ha ve pre c l ude d

pa rtia l sum m ary judgm e nt. S

e e K e nne dy v . Applause

, Inc
. , 90 F.3d 1477, 1482 (9th C ir. 1996). Ac c ordingly , the distric t c ourt’ s de n ia l of TRP’ s re que st wa s not e rrone ous. W e AFFIR M the distric t c ourt’ s gra nt of pa rtia l sum m ary judgm e nt a

nd R EM A ND with instruc tions to order the Dire c tor of the Unite d State s Pate nt a nd Tra de m ark Offic e to e nte r a disc la im e r of the te rm

“ The R a t Pa c k” m odify ing TRP’ s Tra de m ark R e gistra tion No. 2,640,066 tha

t NO C LAIM IS M ADE TO THE EXC LUSIVE R IGHT TO USE “ THE R AT PAC K” APAR T FR OM THE M ARK AS SHOW

N. -3-AFFIRM E D; RE M ANDE D .

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