Art Attacks Ink, LLC v. Mga Entertainment
Opinion
Opinion
I. Introduction
Art Attacks Ink, LLC (“Art Attacks”) brought suit against MGA Entertainment Inc. (“MGA”), alleging copyright, trade- mark, and trade dress infringement. A jury found for MGA on the trademark claim, but could not reach a verdict on the remaining claims. MGA then moved for judgment as a matter of law under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b). The dis- trict court granted the motion and Art Attacks timely appealed. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. As a preliminary matter, we must determine whether MGA timely filed its Rule 50(b) motion. We conclude that it did not. How- ever, because Rule 50(b) is not a jurisdictional rule, the time- 13444 ART ATTACKS v. MGA ENTERTAINMENT liness argument is forfeitable. Art Attacks waived its timeli- ness objection by failing to raise it before the district court.
On the merits of the appeal, we conclude that Art Attacks failed to demonstrate that MGA had access to copyrighted works and that Art Attacks designs acquired secondary mean- ing. We therefore affirm the district court’s grant of judgment as a matter of law as to Art Attacks’s copyright and trade dress infringement claims.