Irvine, CA- February 28, 2019:  

Ninth Circuit Appeal Court Reinstates Jury Verdict’s Finding That The “CỐT” Marks Were Valid and Protectable, and Infringed by VV Foods, LLC.

On February 22, 2019, Rhema Law Group Partners’ John D. Tran, Rosalind T. Ong and Of-Counsel Eric Schiffer, succeeded in having the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rule in favor of Quoc Viet Foods (“Quoc Viet”), ordering a reversal of the district court’s directed verdict and reinstating the original jury verdict that previously declared Quoc Viet’s “CỐT” trademarks were valid and protectable and that defendant VV FOODS, LLC (“VV FOODS”) infringed the asserted “CỐT” marks.

“We are very pleased with the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that gave proper deference to the original jury verdict, which found that the “CỐT” trademarks were indeed valid and protectable and that VV FOODS infringed those rights by intentionally copying Quoc Viet’s products and “CỐT” marks,” said Tran, Quoc Viet’s lead trial counsel.

Quoc Viet
“CỐT” Pho Bo

Quoc Viet is a leading manufacturer of soup bases that make it convenient to enjoy Vietnamese soup/stews, such as the popular “Pho,“ noodle soup, that traditionally requires a complicated cooking process.  For more than 15 years, Quoc Viet has sold and marketed its’ ethnic soup bases under the “CỐT” brand.

Background of District Court Lawsuit & Proceedings

In 2012, Quoc Viet filed a complaint against VV FOODS for intentionally infringing Quoc Viet’s “CỐT” marks thereby causing confusion among consumers.  After a six-day trial in March 2016, a jury unanimously ruled in favor of Quoc Viet for trademark infringement, which seemingly resolved a nearly four-year old feud between the companies. 

However, later the district court proceeded to vacate the jury’s verdict and directed a verdict instead, finding that the “CỐT” marks were merely descriptive and thus not protectable, and ordering the cancellation of all “CỐT” registrations. Quoc Viet appealed.

Ninth Circuit’s Opinion

Following appellate briefing and oral argument, the Ninth Circuit panel reversed the district court’s decisions in a unanimous opinion, thereby reinstating the jury’s original verdict in favor of Quoc Viet.   The Ninth Circuit stated that “the jury, in fact, had substantial evidence from which it could find that the marks were suggestive because they required some ‘exercise of imagination’ due to the play on words of “CỐT’s” multiple meanings that was amplified by intentional grammatical errors…and a jury, could also reasonably found that if the marks were descriptive, they acquired secondary meaning before VV Foods began to use them.  Quoc Viet advertised extensively and exclusively used the marks, and VV Foods intentionally copied Quoc Viet’s products and labels with the intent to deceive.” 

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Rhema Law Group is a boutique firm specializing in intellectual property and business law. Visit www.rhemalaw.com

QUOC VIET FOODS, INC. vs. VV FOODS, LLC et. al., No. 17-55331 Opinion (9th Cir. February 22, 2019).