IAB Loses Preliminary Injunction in OMMA Case
Judge feels trademark misunderstanding could be 'quickly cleared up.'
A federal judge has denied the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) plea to halt MediaPost Communications’ use of the disputed OMMA trademark while the case goes forward.
“Preliminary injunctive relief seems particularly inappropriate where, as here, any temporary confusion can quickly be cleared up by redirecting the relatively small number of inquiries that have come to the IAB,” wrote U.S. District Judge Richard Owen in his order, handed down in New York yesterday.
Owen said were he to bar both parties from using the name OMMA, “the balance of hardships would tilt in favor of defendants.”
At issue is ownership of the OMMA name, which was first used by the IAB and MediaPost for a 2004 trade show they jointly operated. Since then, MediaPost began to use the name independently and has applied for trademark protection. The IAB claims joint ownership of the mark.
