Georgia Pac. Consumer Prod., LP. v. Von Drehle Corp., 09-1942
Georgia Pac. Consumer Prod., LP. v. Von Drehle Corp., 09-1942, involved a plaintiff's suit against one of its competitors for violation of various federal and state laws, for marketing and selling to distributors an inferior paper toweling specifically manufactured by defendant for use in plaintiff's trademarked paper towel dispensers.
The court held that plaintiff has proffered sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find, by a preponderance of the evidence, in favor of plaintiff with respect to each element of plaintiff's contributory trademark infringement and unfair competition claims under the Lanham Act and its unfair competition claim under North Carolina common law. Thus, the court vacated and remanded the district court' grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant with respect to those claims. The court also vacated and remanded district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant with respect to plaintiff's tortious interference with contract claim with limiting instructions since, because the record cannot support a finding that plaintiff had contractual relationships with the end-user customers, this claim is limited to whether defendant tortiously interfered with plaintiff's contractual relationships with distributors. Lastly, the court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff with respect to its claim , under the North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act
Related Resource: