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Who Runs The World? The Importance of Defining the Territorial Reach of the Lanham Act

Published onMay 09, 2023
Who Runs The World? The Importance of Defining the Territorial Reach of the Lanham Act

23 Wake Forest J. Bus. & Intell. Prop. L. 338

“United States law governs domestically but does not rule the world.” Since the enactment of the Lanham Act in 1946, the United States Supreme Court and the United States Courts of Appeals have differed in the application of its extraterritorial reach. Courts have applied the extraterritoriality of the Lanham Act to disputes between United States citizens and foreign citizens. Despite finding a consistent home on federal court dockets, cases involving foreign defendants have yet to gain a dependable judgment.

In 2021, the Tenth Circuit added to the existing clashing judgments. In Hetronic International, Inc. v. Hetronic Germany GmbH, the Tenth Circuit refined an existing test for analyzing the territorial reach of the Lanham act, thereby creating the sixth test within the United States Court of Appeals. Although five tests are surely Supreme Court worthy, six tests cannot be ignored. The Respondent in Hetronic International, Inc. v. Hetronic Germany GmbH thought so too.

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