Rainier Avenue Corp. v. City of Seattle

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that district court’s sua sponte grant of summary judgment to non-moving party is “an accepted method of expediting litigation”
• finding that “conscious replication [of another’s trade dress] alone does not establish secondary meaning”
• “Absent some indication that the moving party might otherwise bring forward evidence that would affect the court’s summary judgment determination, failure to provide an opportunity to respond is not reversible error.”
• “Even if the plaintiff establishes [identity of origin and likelihood of confusion], the defendant may still avoid liability by demonstrating that the imitated features are “functional” — essential to the basic purpose the article is meant to serve.”
• Winter, /., concurring in part and dissenting in part
• “To prevail on a trade dress claim the plaintiff must demonstrate that the product’s appearance has acquired ‘secondary meaning’ — the consuming public immediately identifies the product with its maker — and that the purchasers are likely to confuse the imitating goods with the originals.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).