21 July 2010

Use of Lexus mark in broker’s domain name is fair use

Fionn O'Raghallaigh, Los Angeles

In a decision that could have far-reaching implications, a California court has declared that a car broker’s use of the mark Lexus in two domains is nominative fair use

In a dispute between Toyota Motor Sales and the auto brokers Farzad Tabari and Lisa Tabari, the car manufacturer alleged that the Tabaris' use online of copyrighted photography of Lexus vehicles and its circular L symbol design mark as well as the use of "lexus" in their domain names was "likely to cause confusion as to the source of [the Tabaris'] web site".

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Use of Lexus mark in broker’s domain name is fair use

The rest of this article is available to subscribers to Managing Internet IP only.

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