Splunk Inc. v. Deutsche Telekom AG

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 SPLUNK INC., Case No. 3:20-cv-04377-JD

Plaintiff,

ORDER RE MOTION TO DISMISS

v. 9 Re: Dkt. No. 26 DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG, Defendant.

12 Plaintiff Splunk is seeing red over the color magenta, namely the shade used commercially by defendant Deutsche Telekom (DT), the well-known German telecom company. In this action for a declaration of non-infringement of a trademark, Splunk says that DT has “aggressively asserted trademark rights in the color magenta,” and has “attempted to block companies” from using the color or similar shades of pink. Dkt. No. 1 ¶ 24. Splunk has deployed promotional materials that feature a coral, magenta, and orange “color gradient” said to be “particularly effective at capturing attention.” Id. ¶ 18. Splunk was concerned DT would come after it in a United States court for trademark infringement, and filed this case as a preemptive strike for declaratory relief under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201, 2202. Id. ¶ 7. DT asks to dismiss the complaint…