WarnerVision Entertainment Inc. v. Empire of Carolina, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
101 F.3d 259 (1996)
TLV filed an intent-to-use application for Real Wheels for future toy vehicles, while around the same time WarnerVision (plaintiff) began actual commercial use of the same mark for home videos and miniature vehicles and later obtained trademark registration; Empire (defendant) subsequently acquired both Buddy L's competing Real Wheels toy business and TLV's ITU application rights, and WarnerVision sued to enjoin Empire from completing that ITU registration and claiming an earlier constructive-use priority date based on the application. The district court, finding WarnerVision's earlier bona fide commercial use, granted the injunction, and Empire appealed.
Whether the owner of an intent-to-use trademark application may be enjoined from completing registration based solely on the fact that another party began actual commercial use of the mark after the ITU application's filing date.