Toyota Motor Sales v. Tabari

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

610 F.3d 1171 (2010)

Relevant factsFree

The Tabaris (defendants), independent auto brokers specializing in Lexus vehicles, operated websites named buy-a-lexus.com and buyorleaselexus.com; after Toyota (plaintiff) objected to their use of copyrighted photos, the L-Symbol logo, and the word "Lexus" in the site names, the Tabaris removed the photos and logo and added a disclaimer but kept the domain names, and the trial court found infringement and ordered them to stop operating any site using the Lexus name.

IssueFree

Whether, under the doctrine of nominative fair use, a trademark may be used by someone other than the owner to describe the trademarked good.

Holding & reasoning

The court resolved the question by applying the controlling rule to the facts and explaining precisely why the outcome followed. Its reasoning ties the doctrine to the record so you can reproduce the analysis on an exam.

Procedural history, concurrence & dissent

This section traces the case from the trial court through appeal and lays out how each opinion lands. Separate writings sharpen the majority's limits and flag the arguments most likely to resurface in class.

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