Travel Impressions v. Kaufman

Citation: Travel Impressions Ltd. v. Kaufman, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23217 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 2, 1997)

Factual Background ==

Plaintiffs Travel Impressions Ltd., owner of the registered trademark TRAVEL IMPRESSIONS for travel services, and Empress Travel, L.P., owner of the registered trademark EMPRESS for travel services, sued defendant, a franchisee of plaintiff Empress, seeking to enjoin defendant’s use of the domain names “empresstravel.com” and “travelimpressions.com” and to have the registrations transferred to plaintiffs.

Trial Court Proceedings
Because defendant voluntarily agreed to transfer the “travelimpressions.com” domain name to plaintiff Travel Impressions, the magistrate’s recommendation was limited to defendant’s use of the domain name “empresstravel.com.” Plaintiff Empress’s franchise agreement required franchisees to advertise only under the EMPRESS mark and restricted a franchisee’s use of the mark to the particular geographic area where the franchise was located.

The magistrate determined that defendant’s use of the “empresstravel.com” domain name did not violate these provisions of the franchise agreement. The magistrate also determined that plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction was not warranted because plaintiff had failed to demonstrate that this franchisee had used the EMPRESS mark in a way that would cause irreparable injury to plaintiff or a likelihood of confusion among consumers.

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