Knights Armament Co. v. Optical Sys. Tech., Inc.

Optical Systems Technology, Inc. (OSTI) and Knights Armament Company (KAC), and its owner, dispute the ownership of two trademarks used in the manufacturing and marketing of clip-on night vision devices: "Universal Night Sight" and "UNS." At issue was the district court's entry of partial summary judgment in favor of KAC on OSTI's misappropriation of trade secrets counterclaim. Also at issue was OSTI's pending motion for summary judgment on all counts of KAC's complaint. The court held that the district court was correct in concluding as a matter of law that OSTI's trade secret misappropriation claim was barred by the statute of limitations and the district court correctly granted summary judgment to KAC on OSTI's Count IV, based upon undisputed facts in the record. The court also held that the district court committed no clear error when it determined that OSTI owned the mark; the mark was descriptive, without secondary meaning; and OSTI had no protectable rights in the mark. Therefore, the court held that KAC could not be liable for trademark infringement based on rights to a mark that OSTI could not enforce. View "Knights Armament Co. v. Optical Sys. Tech., Inc." on Justia Law