D.C. Cir.: Licensee estoppel prevents licensee from arguing ownership due to naked licensing

In a decision involving unique circumstances, the D.C. Circuit held today that a licensee was precluded by licensee estoppel from arguing that the licensor abandoned the licensed mark by engaging in “naked licensing.” The licensee argued, unsuccessfully, that licensee estoppel shouldn’t preclude it from asserting that it owned the mark because it was undisputed that:

• The licensor ceased monitoring the licensee in 1991;
• The licensor went bankrupt in 1991, and, a few years after the bankruptcy was converted to Chapter 7 in 1993, the licensor’s former owners misappropriated the mark (from the trustee) and re-started the essentially the same business under the mark;
• The bankruptcy court then entered an order enjoining the licensor’s former owners from continuing to use the mark; and
• Business associates of the licensor’s former owners later purchased the marks from the trustee.

Although it’s hard to draw categorical conclusions from such a unique case, it’s at least safe to say that, if a licensee can’t assert ownership/abandonment in these circumstances, licensee estoppel is pretty robust in the D.C. Circuit.

The case is John C. Flood of Va., Inc. v. John C. Flood, Inc., No. 10-7098 (D.C. Cir. June 17, 2011)