A ghost tour firm on the allegedly haunted Lizzie Borden Home gave its finest (40) whacks in a trademark problem in opposition to a espresso store subsequent door.
However the Massachusetts federal appeals courtroom didn’t purchase the ghost tour agency’s case — a discovering that comes full circle from when prosecutors couldn’t show the allegations that Borden hacked her mother and father to demise with a hatchet.
US Ghost Adventures, LLC, which owns a mattress and breakfast on the Lizzie Borden Home in Fall River and has a federal trademark on each the title “Lizzie Borden” and a hatchet emblem, has misplaced its trademark infringement lawsuit enchantment in opposition to “Miss Lizzie’s Coffee.”
The U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the First Circuit just lately agreed with a decrease Massachusetts federal district courtroom, which had dominated in opposition to Ghost Adventures and denied a preliminary injunction for the trademark.
The Lizzie Borden Home has a storied historical past that originates with the still-unsolved 1892 murders of Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother. Prosecutors alleged that Borden hacked her mother and father to demise with a hatchet of their household residence.
However these allegations have been by no means confirmed. Within the ensuing “trial of the century,” a jury acquitted Borden of all prices.
“This macabre tale not only has permeated the national consciousness but also has turned Borden’s ancestral home into a destination for those with a taste for the supernatural,” the federal appeals courtroom wrote in its ruling. “It is against this grizzly backdrop that the case at hand arises.”
The Ghost Adventures’ trademark on the title “Lizzie Borden” is utilized in resort and restaurant companies, and its different trademark on a hatchet emblem shows a notched blade.
Miss Lizzie’s Espresso just lately opened a espresso store subsequent door to the Lizzie Borden Home. The espresso store additionally markets itself by reference to the Lizzie Borden saga.
Its storefront signage shows the phrases “Miss Lizzie’s Coffee” between a cup of espresso and a stylized hatchet spewing blood. A second signal advertises Miss Lizzie’s as “The Most Haunted Coffee Shop in the World!” The hatchets on each indicators embrace handles and dramatic blood splatters.
Since Miss Lizzie’s opened, some guests have incorrectly assumed that the Lizzie Borden Home and Miss Lizzie’s are related.
“Seven Ghost Adventures employees attested by declaration that various customers have either expressed the belief that the establishments were related or inquired whether such a relationship existed,” the federal appeals courtroom wrote.
“One tour guide explained that guests were frustrated to learn that they could not bring Miss Lizzie’s coffee on their tours of the Lizzie Borden House, having bought the coffee under the erroneous impression that the coffee shop was affiliated with the historical site,” the ruling states. “Another visitor separately attested to his belief that the businesses were affiliated.”
Ghost Adventures final 12 months ended up submitting a federal lawsuit in opposition to Miss Lizzie’s for trademark infringement and unfair competitors. Ghost Adventures additionally moved for a short lived restraining order and/or preliminary injunction — attempting to stop Miss Lizzie’s from utilizing both the “Lizzie Borden” trademark or the hatchet emblem.
Miss Lizzie’s objected, arguing that it had not infringed on both trademark.
The district courtroom within the case defined that Ghost Adventures should present that Miss Lizzie’s “used an imitation of its protected mark in commerce in a way that is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive.” The courtroom ended up concluding that Ghost Adventures had failed to indicate a probability of confusion.
“To begin, the court found that the hatchet displayed on Miss Lizzie’s signage was ‘not at all the hatchet trademarked by Ghost Adventures’ nor even ‘a colorable imitation of it,’ ” the courtroom dominated. “Miss Lizzie’s hatchet has a handle and smooth axe blade that spews blood. Ghost Adventures’ hatchet is bereft of either handle or blood and features a notch halfway along the blade.
“Next, the district court found that Miss Lizzie’s mark associates its business with the historical story of Lizzie Borden, not the mark ‘Lizzie Borden’ that Ghost Adventures owns,” the courtroom added.
The ghost tour firm ended up interesting the district courtroom ruling.
“Ghost Adventures gives just short of forty whacks to the district court’s finding that Miss Lizzie’s moniker and hatchet posed a low risk of confusing consumers,” the appeals courtroom wrote.
The U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the First Circuit finally affirmed the district courtroom’s ruling.
“The trademarked hatchet features only a notched blade, whereas Miss Lizzie’s bears a handle and a smooth blade,” the courtroom wrote. “Miss Lizzie’s hatchet spews blood, whereas Ghost Adventures’ is spotless. Indeed, it appears that the only similarity between the hatchet logos is that they both depict hatchets. The court, then, did not clearly err in finding that the hatchet logos are facially dissimilar.”
The courtroom later said within the ruling, “This challenge has no more force than an apparition.”
