U.S. Gold & Silver Investments, Inc. v. The United States of America Ex Rel. Director, U.S. Mint J. Aron & Company

The plaintiff in this action is U.S. Gold & Silver Investments, Inc., a company engaged in the business of selling gold bullion and other metals. It brought this action against the United States and J. Aron & Company (“Aron”) claiming that the United States Mint and Aron misappropriated the plaintiffs trade name when they marketed and sold gold medallions, minted by the United States, under the name “U.S. Gold.” The plaintiff sought damages against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-2680 (1982) (FTCA), and against Aron under section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125 (a) (1982). The district court awarded summary judgment in favor of each defendant in two separate reported opinions. U.S. Gold & Silver Invs., Inc. v. Director, U.S. Mint, 656 F.Supp. 380 (D.Or.1987); 682 F.Supp. 484 (D.Or.1987).

The basic underlying facts and the rationale for the district court’s analysis of the merits of plaintiff’s trade name infringement claim are set forth in the district court’s opinion reported at 682 F.Supp. 484 . The district court held that the plaintiff had shown no protectable interest in the trade name “U.S. Gold” because the term is…