Opinion ID: 3053402
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: “Right in Gross”

Text: [15] The district court granted summary judgment to Able Time in large part because it believed that the government’s interpretation ran afoul of the principle that a trademark is not a “right in gross.” See 4 McCarthy § 24:11. This principle holds that a registered trademark can be used by someone other than its owner so long as the use does not confuse the public, because trademarks are tied to their use on products and do not exist in the abstract. See id. The statutory scheme at issue here sufficiently connects the marks and the goods on which they are used. The offending merchandise must “copy or simulate” a registered mark, 15 U.S.C. § 1124, which means that the watches must be likely to cause confusion in UNITED STATES v. ABLE TIME, INC. 13673 order for a civil penalty to apply. See 19 C.F.R. § 133.22(a); supra Part II.B. This requirement prevents a step backwards towards a “right in gross” theory of trademark because it requires the owner to use the registered mark. If the owner did not use the mark, then the public would be unlikely to confuse it with the offending mark. Accordingly, even under the government’s theory of the case, a trademark is still a “right appurtenant to an established business or trade in connection with which the mark is employed,” not a “right in gross or at large.” United Drug Co. v. Theodore Rectanus Co., 248 U.S. 90, 97 (1918).