Hana Financial, Inc. v. Hana Bank (574 U.S. 418)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 21, 2015 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 574 U.S. 418 · 135 S. Ct. 907
- Decided
- January 21, 2015
- Term
- October Term 2014
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Sotomayor
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice SOTOMAYORdelivered the opinion of the Court. Rights in a trademark are determined by the date of the mark's first use in commerce. The party who first uses a mark in commerce is said to have priority over other users. Recognizing that trademark users ought to be permitted to make certain modifications to their marks over time without losing priority, lower courts have provided that, in limited circumstances, a party may clothe a new mark with the priority position of an older mark. This doctrine is called "tacking," and lower courts have found tacking to be available when the original and revised marks are "legal equivalents" in that they create the same, continuing commercial impression. The question presented here is whether a judge or a jury should determine whether tacking is available in a given case. Because the tacking inquiry operates from the perspective of an ordinary purchaser or consumer, we hold that a jury should make this determination. I Petitioner, Hana Financial, and respondent Hana Bank, a subsidiary of respondent Hana Financial Group, both provide financial services to individuals in the United States. Hana Bank (hereinafter respondent) was established in 1971 as a Korean entity called Korea Investment Finance Corporation. In 1991, that entity changed its name to "Hana Bank" and began using this name in Korea. In 1994, it established a service…
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