Porn company gets aid in fight with Amazon

A federal appeals court said Tuesday that a jury should decide whether Amazon.com infringed on the trademark of a Miami-based pornography company.

Wreal, LLC, which created a porn streaming platform known as FyreTV, filed a lawsuit after Amazon launched Fire TV, which provides devices for streaming. In a 46-page opinion, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the case involves the “likelihood of confusion” based on Amazon’s use of Fire TV, also known as fireTV.

A federal district judge granted summary judgment in favor of Amazon. But the panel of the Atlanta-based appeals court overturned that decision and said a jury should decide whether trademark infringement occurred.

“Here, the record evidence establishes that Amazon acquired actual knowledge of Wreal’s registered trademark and still launched a product line with a phonetically similar name,” said Tuesday’s opinion, written by Judge Barbara Lagoa and joined by Judges Charles Wilson and Andrew Brasher.

“The two marks (trademarks) at issue are nearly identical, the commercial strength of Amazon’s mark is consistent with Wreal’s theory of recovery, the parties’ services are the kind that a reasonable consumer could attribute to a single source, and the record establishes that Amazon intended to swamp the market with its advertising campaign.”