Sun Earth, Inc. v. Sun Earth Solar Power Co.

MEMORANDUM

The district court did not abuse its discretion by granting an injunction that permitted Sun Earth Solar Power Co., Ltd. and its subsidiary NBSolar USA Inc. (collectively, “SESP”) to identify Sun Earth Solar Power Co., Ltd. as the manufacturer, importer, or seller on goods “branded as NBSolar rather than Sun Earth ... to the minimum extent necessary as required by law or ordinary business customs to operate within the United States under the NBSolar name.” When fashioning an injunction to remedy trademark infringement, the district court has the discretion to permit non-misleading uses of a trade name. See E. & J. Gallo Winery v. Gallo Cattle Co., 967 F.2d 1280, 1297-98 (9th Cir. 1992). Nor does the exception violate Rule 65(d)’s requirements that the order granting the injunction “state its terms specifically” and “describe in reasonable detail ... the act or acts restrained.” Fed. R. Civ. P, 65(d). An injunction allowing limited use of a trademark need not “catalog the entire universe of possible uses” but must only, as here, give the trademark holder “adequate notice” of the enjoined party’s permissible uses. See GoTo.com, Inc. v. Walt Disney Co., 202 F.3d 1199,…