Matrix Motor Co. v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

MEMORANDUM *

Matrix Motor Company (“Matrix Motor”) appeals the district court’s summary judgment dismissal of its trademark infringement suit against Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha t/a Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., and Toyota North America (collectively, “Toyota”). Matrix Motor alleges that Toyota’s use of the name TOYOTA MATRIX to describe its passenger vehicle infringes on Matrix Motor’s alleged trademark in the MATRIX mark.

Trademark rights can be established through prior use of the mark in the sale of goods or services. Sengoku Works Ltd. v. RMC Int’l. Ltd., 96 F.3d 1217 , 1219-20 (9th Cir.1996). A mark “is not meritorious of trademark protection until it is used in public in a manner that creates an association among consumers between the mark and the mark’s owner.” Brookfield Communications, Inc. v. West Coast Entm’t Corp., 174 F.3d 1036, 1051 (9th Cir.1999). There is no triable issue of fact as to whether Matrix Motor made prior use of the MATRIX mark on automobiles. Matrix Motor never sold a car in the United States that bears the MATRIX name on its exterior. At most, Matrix Motor used the MATRIX name on interior car parts that were not visible…