SDNY Denies Plaintiff Romance Author’s Request for Injunctive Relief Against Competing Use of TM “COCKY”
On July 5, Judge Alvin Hellerstein issued an order stating that a plaintiff romance author who owns a trademark in the word “cocky” for “a series of books in the field of romance” failed to show irreparable harm and likelihood of confusion if the defendant authors were to proceed with using the word “cocky” in connection with their romance novels. In their opposition to the motion, the defendants argued that the plaintiff could not monopolize “cocky” in connection with romance novels because the word is widely-used in romance novels and it is artistically relevant to the content of romance novels. The case is currently pending in the SDNY.