Gallup, Inc. v. Business Research Bureau (Pvt.) Ltd.

ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND VACATING HEARING

INTRODUCTION

This civil action is but one front in a global war over the “Gallup” name. In this extraterritorial trademark dispute involving a foreign polling organization’s right to publish opinion polls on the Internet under the name “Gallup Pakistan,” plaintiff Gallup, Inc. moves for summary judgment and a permanent injunction against pro se defendant Ijaz Shafi Gilani, a resident and citizen of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Chairman of Gallup Pakistan, a foreign corporation that has been conducting Pakistani opinion surveys for nearly thirty years. For the reasons set forth below, the motion must be Denied.

STATEMENT

The United States trademark system is one of many in the world. Unsurprisingly, this has given rise to contentious international disputes over the right to use a particular mark across multiple jurisdictions. One need only order a Budweiser in beer halls around the globe to see these conflicts at work.

In the online world, the confluence of conflicting trademark systems presents even more challenging questions of jurisdiction and enforcement. Indeed, the Internet — at least as it exists…