Issue No. 023
July 1, 2026
New York
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The IP Briefing · by ESCA Legal
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| The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Rise Brewing's appeal in its trademark dispute with PepsiCo over the MTN Dew Rise name. |
| § | Rise Brewing alleges that PepsiCo's use of MTN Dew Rise created confusion with its canned coffee brand. | | § | The Second Circuit affirmed judgment for PepsiCo after treating the Rise mark as weak in the likelihood-of-confusion analysis. | | § | The question now before the Court centers on whether trademark strength can be resolved by a judge or should be treated as a factual issue for a jury. | | § | The case grew out of PepsiCo's 2021 launch of a morning-focused energy drink that was later renamed MTN Dew Energy and discontinued. |
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| Continue reading → |
| § ESCA Takeaway |
| Trademark strength is often treated like a technical factor, but this issue shows how quickly it becomes a business question. A word, a product name, a logo, or an apparel mark can carry very different weight depending on who uses it, where it appears, and how crowded the market already is. |
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| More IP Stories |
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| § Trademark · Filed |
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| Luxottica Group and Oakley filed a Southern District of Ohio trademark complaint against Roadget Business and Shein Distribution Corporation. |
| § | The new complaint names Oakley and Luxottica as plaintiffs and Roadget Business and Shein Distribution Corporation as defendants. | | § | The docket identifies the case as a Lanham Act trademark infringement action and shows a jury demand by the plaintiffs. | | § | The filing adds a fresh accessories and online retail dispute to the broader brand-enforcement lane around marketplace and fast-fashion distribution. |
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Why it matters
Eyewear brands depend heavily on logo recognition and product-source signals. A new Oakley and Luxottica filing against Shein-linked entities puts those signals back in the center of online retail enforcement.
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| Continue reading → |
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| § Trademark · Filed |
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| ALO filed a Central District of California trademark case against Jinbiao Zhao and John Doe defendants. |
| § | The docket identifies the case as a Lanham Act trademark infringement action filed on June 29. | | § | ALO appears as the petitioner, with Jinbiao Zhao and John Does named as defendants. | | § | ALO's trademark portfolio includes ALO and ALO YOGA registrations, placing the filing in the activewear and lifestyle-brand enforcement lane. |
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Why it matters
Activewear brands increasingly sit at the intersection of apparel, wellness, and influencer-led commerce. That makes trademark enforcement less about a single logo and more about protecting a lifestyle brand across channels.
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| Continue reading → |
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| § Trademark · Filed |
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| Grundens filed a Northern District of California trademark complaint against W.L. Gore. |
| § | The complaint was filed on June 29 and is listed as a trademark case. | | § | The dispute brings together an outdoor apparel brand and the company behind Gore-Tex materials. | | § | The docket does not yet show a substantive response from W.L. Gore. |
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Why it matters
Outdoor apparel relies on both brand names and technical material associations. A dispute between an apparel label and a materials company shows how trademark questions can surface inside performance-gear partnerships and competition.
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| Continue reading → |
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QUICK HITS
| § Copyright | Jamendo filed a new Massachusetts copyright complaint against Suno, separate from the Jamendo/NVIDIA filing already covered last week. [source] |
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This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Published by ESCA Legal. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney advertising; prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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