PROMATEK INDUSTRIES, LTD., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. EQUITRAC CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant., 300 F.3d 808

Summary

The competitor used the seller's trademark as a metatag because it serviced equipment sold under the seller's trademark but, after the seller complained of such use, the competitor removed the metatag from its website and requested search engines to remove any link between its website and the trademark. Nonetheless, the preliminary injunction further precluded the competitor from using the mark in its website and required the competitor to direct consumers to the seller's website. The appellate court held that the injunction was properly granted. Regardless of whether consumers who contacted the competitor's website through the mark were only briefly confused, such confusion resulted in the competitor reaping the goodwill attributable to the seller's mark. Further, the seller had no adequate remedy at law in view of the difficulty in assessing damages for such loss of the seller's goodwill. Finally, the harm to the seller from the continued loss of goodwill outweighed the competitor's ...