A Louisiana federal judge on Friday threw out Firefly Digital Inc.'s trademark and unfair competition action against Google Inc. over its "Google Gadgets” product, ruling that Firefly's asserted trademarks for “gadget” and “website gadget” were generic and descriptive.
Firefly sued Google in January 2010 seeking recovery of monetary damages, penalties and injunctive relief for trademark infringement and unfair competition under the Lanham Act and the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna granted Google's motion for summary judgment and motion to cancel the federal- and state-registered trademarks, saying Firefly's marks did not pass muster.
"We're pleased that the court in Lafayette found that Firefly's marks should be canceled and the claims against Google dismissed," Google lead counsel Ashok Ramani of Keker & Van Nest LLP told Law360 on Friday.
Mr. Ramani focuses his practice on patent and trade-secret matters. He has represented clients in federal and state courts as well as before the US International Trade Commission in Section 337 investigations. Also representing Google in this matter were Keker & Van Nest attorneys Warren Braunig, Steven Taylor and Nikki Vo.
Warren Braunig's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, ranging from trade secrets and trademark law to consumer class actions and contract disputes. He has represented Impax Laboratories, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, and other individual and corporate clients.
Steven Taylor’s experience runs the gamut of civil and criminal cases. He has extensive experience representing both companies and individuals in high-stakes disputes, often involving multiple parties and related actions. His cases have involved intellectual property matters, partnership disputes, breach of fiduciary duty, securities fraud and insider trading investigations, professional malpractice actions, and alleged violations of Section 337 of the Tariff Act.
Nikki Vo represents corporations and individuals in all types of complex litigation, including antitrust, intellectual property, legal malpractice and contract disputes. Since joining the firm in 2008, Ms. Vo has been a member of several trial teams, including one that obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a large national law firm after a six-week jury trial in an attorney malpractice case.