Hana Financial, Inc. v. Hana Bank
United States Supreme Court
135 S. Ct. 907 (2015)
Hana Bank (defendant) had used a series of similar marks over time in connection with its financial services, and argued that its use of an earlier version of the mark should be "tacked" onto its use of a later version, giving it priority over Hana Financial's (plaintiff) trademark. The jury was instructed on the tacking doctrine and found for Hana Bank; Hana Financial challenged the verdict, arguing that trademark tacking should be decided by a judge as a question of law rather than submitted to a jury.
Whether the question whether two trademarks may be tacked together, because they create the same, continuing commercial impression, is a question of fact for the jury or a question of law for the court.