Netflix’s Motion Dismissed by Judge in Netflix-Chooseco’s Case

Entertainment mediums like online streaming websites have greatly increased in the past 5 years. Ranging from childhood to old ages, these websites have all sorts of movies and series to keep individuals of all age groups happy and content. Within a time span of the last five years, terms like “binge” watching have greatly evolved, thanks to streaming services like Netflix, Hotstar, Hulu and Amazon Prime. In order to create unique and interesting content, these streaming channels try to produce new and spicy stories every time, with an intention to keep the viewers engaged. However, at times, these streaming go beyond reasonable limits and get themselves tied up with lawsuits. Lately, Netflix got caught up in a trademark lawsuit when Chooseco LLC sued it for infringing its “Choose your own adventure” trademark.

Chooseco LLC was founded by R.A. Montgomery in the year 2003. This Vermont-based publishing company is majorly involved in the re-release of Montgomery’s “Choose your own adventure” series of gamebooks, which were extremely popular between 1978 and 1998. Till now, more than 250 million copies have been sold in over 38 languages.

In the year 2019, this children’s book publisher accused the well-known online streaming website, Netflix, for using their “Choose your own adventure” trademark and portraying it in a dark manner in their movie production, “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.” The suing party contended, “The film is causing confusion, tarnishing, denigrating, and diluting the distinct quality of the Choose Your Own Adventure name” Shannon Gillian, Chooseco’s co-founder said, “The use of Choose Your Own Adventure in association with such graphic content is likely to cause significant damage, impacting our book sales and affecting our ability to work with licensing partners in the future.”

On the other hand, Netflix took the defence of the First Amendment’s balancing test, laid down in the case Rogers v. Grimaldi, wherein it was concluded that, if in case a mark has no artistic relevance, the use of such a mark must prove to be misleading in order to claim action against it.

Leading the case in favour of Chooseco LLC, U.S. District Court of Vermont Judge William Sessions concluded, “The protagonist in Bandersnatch explicitly stated that the fictitious book at the centre of the film’s plot was a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book.” In addition, the book, the videogame, and the film itself all employ the same type of interactivity as Chooseco’s products. The similarity between Chooseco’s products, Netflix’s film, and the fictitious book Netflix described as a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book increases the likelihood of consumer confusion." He added, “Because the Court finds that Chooseco has met its pleading requirements regarding these issues, Chooseco is entitled to proceed with its unfair competition claim.”

To read more IPR related articles, log on to - https://www.trademarkclick.com/education-blog/