Opinion ID: 772978
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether the Incontestability Affidavit was False

Text: 46 The appellants also argue that the incontestability affidavit Goldstein submitted to the PTO in 1987 was false. In filing an incontestability affidavit, a trademark owner must swear that there has been no final decision adverse to the registrant's claim of ownership or right to register the mark. See 15 U.S.C. 1065. 47 For the same reasons that the Florida judgment does not have a preclusive effect in this litigation, Goldstein was not required to disclose the judgment. He was not a party to the Florida suit, and the 1987 agreements with the appellants vacated the Florida judgment. His incontestability affidavit was therefore not false. 48 Even if the Florida judgment were a final adverse decision, Goldstein can only be adjudicated to have filed a fraudulent oath if he acted with scienter. If Goldstein had a good faith belief that the Florida judgment was irrelevant, he cannot be found to have submitted a false affidavit. See J. Thomas McCarthy, McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition, 31.79, at 31-136.1. The appellants did not present any evidence, either on appeal or, apparently, in the district court, that Goldstein acted in bad faith or with knowledge that he should have disclosed the Florida judgment. Since the appellants did not present any evidence of Goldstein's state of mind, they did not even meet their initial burden in moving for summary judgment. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 91 L. Ed. 2d 265, 106 S. Ct. 2548 (1986). 49 Moreover, even if Goldstein knowingly submitted a false declaration such that the appellees' federal registration should be canceled, the appellees could (and did) still bring suit alleging common law trademark infringement. See McCarthy on Trademarks, 31:60, at 31-109 (noting that it has been held several times that even if defendant succeeds in proving that the plaintiff's registration was fraudulently obtained, plaintiff's common law rights in the mark continue unabated even if the registration is canceled). The district court therefore did not err in denying the appellants' motion for summary judgment as to the appellees' incontestability affidavit. 50