Opinion ID: 15871
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the lighthouse

Text: Tour 18 does not challenge the protectibility of depictions of the lighthouse; rather, it challenges Sea Pines’s rights in the lighthouse. Tour 18 argues that Sea Pines no longer has any 9 Tour 18 also argues that it presented survey evidence indicating that the Plaintiffs’ golf-hole designs had not acquired secondary meaning in the minds of consumers. Through the testimony of an expert, Tour 18 presented a survey of the public’s reactions to pictures of the Plaintiffs’ golf holes. The survey was entitled “An Investigation of the ‘Inherent Distinctiveness’ of Selected Golf Holes.” During its expert’s testimony about the survey, Tour 18’s counsel asked if the expert had an opinion as to whether Pebble Beach or Pinehurst’s golfhole designs had acquired secondary meaning. Tour 18’s counsel did not ask the same question about Sea Pines’s golf-hole design. This omission implies either that the survey was not probative in relation to whether Sea Pines’s golf-hole design had acquired secondary meaning or that the survey would have supported a finding of secondary meaning, an inference not in Tour 18’s interests. Tour 18 chose not to present the survey as probative of whether Sea Pines’s trade dress had acquired secondary meaning as evidenced by the omitted question and by its failure to argue no secondary meaning for the Sea Pines’s golfhole design in its closing argument, and we therefore do not find error in the district court’s failure to factor in the survey as to this issue. Additionally, the survey showed that nine percent of active golfers surveyed identified Sea Pines’s golf hole in a way indicating source--e.g., “legendary light house hole,” “a golf course in Hilton Head, S.C.,” and “18th hole harbor [sic] town.” While this may not be enough to establish secondary meaning on its own, see, e.g., Roselux Chem. Co. v. Parsons Ammonia Co., 299 F.2d 855, 862 (C.C.P.A. 1962) (finding 10% to be insufficient to establish secondary meaning); Zippo Mfg. Co. v. Rogers Imports, Inc., 216 F. Supp. 670, 689-90 (S.D.N.Y. 1963) (finding 25% to be insufficient); see also 2 MCCARTHY ON TRADEMARKS, supra, § 15:45 n.9 (cautioning against using 25% as a benchmark), it does not negate the showing made by the Plaintiffs, establishing that Sea Pines’s trade dress has acquired secondary meaning through evidence of Sea Pines’s advertising, unsolicited publicity, and Tour 18’s intent. 28 rights in the lighthouse because (1) it does not own the lighthouse and (2) by its course of conduct, it has abandoned the lighthouse as a mark. In response to the first argument, we adopt the reasoning of the district court: The Lanham Act does not require a party to “own” a word, symbol, or other identifying mark before it may be granted protection from infringement. Rather, all that is required is that a party “use” the mark in commerce to identify its services and distinguish them from the services of others. 15 U.S.C. § 1127; see [Boston Prof’l Hockey Ass’n v. Dallas Cap & Emblem Mfg., Inc., 510 F.2d 1004, 1014 (5th Cir. 1975)] (noting that under trademark law, a party acquires rights to a symbol in the public domain through use of the mark and the public’s association of the mark with the user). Id. at 1541 (footnote omitted); see also 1 MCCARTHY ON TRADEMARKS, supra, § 7:100-:101. Tour 18 styles its argument as attacking Sea Pines’s interest in the structure of the lighthouse itself and not in the image of the lighthouse, arguing that the only connection between the golf course and the lighthouse is that the lighthouse can be seen from the course. However, Harbour Town Golf Links was built by the same entity that constructed the lighthouse and the evidence demonstrates that the placement and design of the course and the lighthouse were specifically designed to create the relationship between the course and the lighthouse. This is not a case where the only connection is the coincidence of proximity or location. The connection between the course and the lighthouse is much greater and dates back to the conception of both. Sea Pines has used depictions of the 29 lighthouse in relation to golfing services since 1969, and the district court did not clearly err in finding that the lighthouse has achieved secondary meaning in relation to golfing services in the minds of consumers. The sale of the lighthouse to Fogelman’s predecessor, while reserving trademark rights in depictions of the lighthouse, does not alter this finding. In relation to abandonment, Tour 18 argues that Sea Pines’s failure to police third-party uses of the lighthouse as a mark has caused the mark “to lose its significance as a mark,” thus constituting abandonment under 15 U.S.C. § 1127. As Tour 18 argues, this form of abandonment does not require any intent to abandon on the part of Sea Pines. See id.; RESTATEMENT, supra, § 30 cmt. c; 2 MCCARTHY ON TRADEMARKS, supra, § 17:8. However, the evidence shows, as the district court discussed, that Sea Pines has not failed to police third-party uses of depictions of the lighthouse; rather, it has aggressively policed third-party uses. See Pebble Beach, 942 F. Supp. at 1541. Additionally, the district court’s finding of secondary meaning in the lighthouse mark for golfing services shows that the lighthouse has not lost its significance as a mark for golfing services, despite the third-party uses in relation to other products and services. Those third-party uses are only relevant to the strength of the mark in this case and do not evidence abandonment. See Sweetheart Plastics, Inc. v. Detroit Forming, Inc., 743 F.2d 1039, 1048 (4th Cir. 1984) (citing 1 J.T. MCCARTHY, TRADEMARKS AND 30 UNFAIR COMPETITION § 17:5, at 779-80 (2d ed. 1984)); RESTATEMENT, supra, § 30 cmt. c; see also Amstar Corp. v. Domino’s Pizza, Inc., 615 F.2d 252, 259 (5th Cir. 1980); 2 MCCARTHY ON TRADEMARKS, supra, § 17:17, at 17-27.