Smith v. Montoro
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
648 F.2d 602 (1981)
Relevant factsFree
Film distributors Montoro and Film Venture International (defendants) removed actor Paul Smith's (plaintiff) name from a film's credits and promotional materials and replaced it with a fictitious name, "Bob Spencer"; the district court dismissed Smith's reverse-passing-off Lanham Act claim, reasoning the statute only prohibited misusing a plaintiff's own name (passing off), not mislabeling his work under someone else's name.
IssueFree
Whether, in trademark law, a reverse-passing-off claim is when a defendant sells another person's goods or services by representing that the defendant made them himself.