This morning the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential opinion in a trademark infringement case appealed from the Southern District of Florida. The court vacated the lower court’s judgment and remanded the case, finding that the district court abused its discretion by, among other things, unreasonably rejecting an unlawful-use defense without adequate legal or factual analysis. Here is the introduction to the opinion.
VPR Brands, LP v. Shenzhen Weiboli Technology Co. (Nonprecedential)
Shenzhen Weiboli Technology Co. Ltd. appeals an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which granted a preliminary injunction against Weiboli in a trademark infringement action. In granting the preliminary injunction, the district court concluded that, among other findings, VPR Brands, LP was likely to succeed on the merits of its trademark infringement claim against Weiboli. The district court rejected Weiboli’s affirmative defense that VPR’s trademark registration at issue was invalid under the “unlawful use doctrine.” Weiboli appeals, contending that the district court abused its discretion by failing to adopt the unlawful use doctrine. We vacate and remand.