When I last wrote about SCI North Carolina Funeral Services, LLC v. McEwen Ellington Funeral Services, Inc., Judge Murphy had entered a TRO against the Defendants for trademark infringement over their use of the McEwen name in their funeral home business.  The case seemed cut and dried then, and it looked like that the Defendants had no defense to the infringement claim.

Last week, Judge Murphy entered a preliminary injunction in the same case in 2013 NCBC 11, this time over the Defendants’ vigorous defense.  The second time around was a much closer call. 

The case involves the McEwen name, which is the middle name of Defendant Carl Ellington. When the Defendants sold the funeral homes that they had operated under the McEwen name to the Plaintiffs, they included in the sale the rights to all "trademarks, tradenames (including all trade names under which [they] did business."  McEwen was the last name of Carl J. McEwen, the founder of McEwen Funeral Services, Inc.

Several years after their sale, the Defendants opened a new, competing funeral home under the McEwen name and this trademark infringement lawsuit ensued.

Continue Reading Developments In NC State Trademark Law

If you have visited the restroom in an office building in the last five years, chances are you’ve had the opportunity to use Georgia Pacific’s hands-free paper towel dispenser known as "enMotion."  In a published opinion released yesterday, the Fourth Circuit generally ruled in GP’s favor on trademark infringement, tortious interference, and unfair and deceptive

In the 1930’s, North Carolina began an ad campaign describing the state as "Variety Vacationland."  UNC’s Wilson library says that the advertising resulted in a "growing number of visitors to places like Asheville, Pinehurst, and the Outer Banks" and that it "heightened their reputation as excellent vacation areas."

What do places like Pinehurst and the

Today, the Business Court denied Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction in a state law trademark dispute between competing jewelry stores.  The Order in Windsor Jewelers, Inc. v. Windsor Fine Jewelers, LLC, 2009 NCBC 2 (N.C. Super. Ct. Feb. 16, 2009) dissolved a Temporary Restraining Order which had previously been entered in the case.