McCord

BACKGROUND

Since 1964, Reno Air has operated the National Champion- ship Air Races, an annual air show at the Reno/Stead Airport in Nevada. The show features airplanes that race around pylons1 for cash prizes and stunt aircraft that perform acrobatic maneuvers. Each year, approximately 80,000 to 90,000 peo- ple attend the event, which generates millions of dollars of revenue. Reno Air extensively advertises and promotes the event through a variety of print and electronic media, refer- ring to it both as “Reno Air Races” and “National Champion- ship Air Races.”

Since commencement of the races in 1964, Reno Air has used a logo featuring a checkered pylon with two airplanes circling it (“pylon logo”) to identify the event and merchan- dise promoting the event. Reno Air is the registered owner of two federal trademarks,2 numbers 1,322,146 and 1,371,797, 1 A “pylon” is defined as a “post or tower marking a prescribed course of flight for an airplane.” MERRIAM WEBSTER’S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY 952 (10th ed. 1993). 2 A “trademark” is “any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combina- tion thereof” used by a person to “identify and distinguish his or her goods . . . from those…