About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

76 J. Pat. & Trademark Off. Soc'y 933 (1994)
Criminal (and Civil) Trademark Infringement: What Statute of Limitations Applies

handle is hein.journals/jpatos76 and id is 947 raw text is: Criminal (and Civil) Trademark Infringement: What Statute of Limitations Applies? Ronald J. Nessimt A lthough statute of limitation questions are often yawners, a recent federal criminal case in the Central District of California raised the interesting and case dispositive issue of what limitations period applies in a federal criminal trademark infringement action.2 While that question may appear at first glance to be one of not great interest, and then to only white collar criminal defense lawyers, the search for an answer also addresses the broader unsettled question of what limitations period applies in a federal civil trademark infringement action under the Lanham Act3 and, even more importantly, illustrates the approach federal courts should use when determining the appropriate limitations period where a federal statute fails to expressly provide one. THE UNDERLYING CASE The defendants, an individual and his wholly-owned corporation, were secondary dealers of circuit breakers who sold used and recon- ditioned breakers to both middlemen and end users. It was undisputed that the defendants often replaced the original manufacturer's label on the breakers, which label contained the manufacturer's trademark, with a photocopy of the original label. The defendants contended that their purpose was only to accurately identify essential electrical character- istics of the breakers being sold. The government contended that the defendants used the replacement labels as part of a scheme to pass used 0 1994 Ronald J. Nessim 1 Ronald J. Nessim is a member of the Los Angeles law firm of Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert & Matz, P.C. where he has a white collar criminal defense and civil business litigation practice. He represented both defendants in the criminal trial discussed in this article. 2 United States v. HLC Electric Supply Co., Inc. and Hector Luis Contreras, CR 92-412. 3 The Lanham Act, under which federal trademark infringement claims are brought, is set forth in 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most