High Court denies T-Mobile bid for review in US ‘SIMPLY PREPAID’ trademark dispute
( April 7, 2025, 15:29 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: The Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari by T-Mobile in its effort to undo a determination by the US Fourth Circuit US Court of Appeals that it must face allegations of infringement by Simply Wireless of the unregistered “SIMPLY PREPAID” trademark. In seeking review, T-Mobile presented the following question: “Whether the ‘use’ that creates a common law trademark right under Section 45 of the Lanham Act, 35 U.S.C. § 1127 (2006), must be continuous — at least up until the point at which the trademark defendant begins the assertedly infringing activities — for the purported holder of a common law trademark to maintain its rights and preclude another from use.” T-Mobile, first before the US Eastern District of Virginia and later the Fourth Circuit, unsuccessfully argued that Simply Wireless’ failure to show continuous use of the mark should serve as a bar to its lawsuit. The district court did side with T-Mobile on the question of trademark abandonment, but the appellate panel later vacated the win upon finding Simply Wireless put forth sufficient evidence of its intent to resume using the mark.See attached document....
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