Opinion ID: 446566
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Conans' Clean Hands

Text: 15 The critical issue CPI raises is whether Conans Pizza was an intentional infringer and therefore lacked the clean hands necessary to assert the equitable defenses of laches and acquiescence. CPI shoulders the burden of proving that Conans' hands were unclean. See, e.g., Kentucky Fried Chicken Corp. v. Diversified Packaging Corp., 549 F.2d 368, 373, 380 (5th Cir.1977), aff'g, 376 F.Supp. 1136, 1147 (S.D.Fla.1974); United States v. Second National Bank of North Miami, 502 F.2d 535, 548 (5th Cir.1974), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 912, 95 S.Ct. 1567, 43 L.Ed.2d 777 (1975); Jicarilla Apache Tribe v. Andrus, 687 F.2d 1324, 1337 (10th Cir.1982). CPI essentially asks us to conclude that Conans employed the CONAN THE BARBARIAN mark with the explicit bad faith intent of passing off its service and product as emanating from or endorsed by CPI. The record does not support such a conclusion. 16 Passing off may be found only where the defendant subjectively and knowingly intended to confuse buyers. 2 J. McCarthy, Trademarks and Unfair Competition Sec. 25:1, at 173; Sec. 31:2, at 381 (1st ed. 1973). This court has recognized that a defendant's mere awareness of a plaintiff's claim to the same mark neither amounts to passing off nor establishes the bad intent necessary to preclude the availability of the laches defense. Armco, 693 F.2d at 1159 n. 7. The plaintiff's burden, therefore, is heavy. To foreclose the laches and acquiescence defenses, the plaintiff must offer something more than mere objective evidence to demonstrate that the defendant employed the allegedly infringing mark with the wrongful intent of capitalizing on its goodwill. 17 In this case the jury did not find and the record would not support a finding of bad faith to deprive Conans of the equitable defenses. Although the parties submitted several special interrogatories to the jury, none asked the jury to determine whether Conans Pizza was an intentional, bad faith infringer when Conans began using the CONAN THE BARBARIAN mark and image. 1 Additionally, the jury's findings of trademark infringement and unfair competition did not constitute a finding that Conans acted with the wrongful intent to capitalize on CPI's goodwill, since wrongful intent is merely one of at least seven critical elements contributing to a finding of likelihood of confusion. See Armco, 693 F.2d at 1159; Sun Banks of Florida, Inc. v. Sun Federal Savings and Loan Association, 651 F.2d 311, 314 (5th Cir.1981). 18 The record similarly fails to reveal the subjective and knowing bad faith necessary to foreclose the equitable defenses. Although there appears to be little doubt that Conans intended to use the CONAN THE BARBARIAN mark and image, sufficient doubt exists regarding whether that use was designed to capitalize on CPI's goodwill. 2 Leist and Strader testified at trial that they adopted the CONAN name because of the way it sounded in their marketing jingle--Conans Cosmic Chicago Style Pizza, and that the barbarian man was used as a clever and unique way to market their service and product. They also stated that although they were familiar with the CONAN THE BARBARIAN character prior to opening their restaurant, they believed the character was neither popular nor well known in Austin. CPI offered no evidence to the contrary. Finally, they testified that they were unaware of any other person or entity employing the Conan mark or image to sell food products but that they would have changed their name if deCamp had voiced any objection when he first visited the restaurant. In view of this evidence and the absence of contrary evidence, we hold that CPI has not carried its burden of proving that Conans subjectively and knowingly intended to use its mark for the purpose of deriving benefit from CPI's goodwill. Conans therefore was able to assert the equitable defenses of laches and acquiescence.