## Facts

- Chrysler launched a national advertising campaign using the phrase “IMPORTED FROM DETROIT,” debuting it in a 2011 Super Bowl commercial and spending over $50 million promoting the slogan.
- Shortly after the commercial aired, Chrysler began selling merchandise (including T-shirts) bearing “IMPORTED FROM DETROIT” and filed USPTO applications to register the phrase for automobiles, clothing, and related goods; the applications faced descriptiveness/geographic descriptiveness refusals.
- Chrysler’s automobiles were assembled in Michigan and Ontario facilities, not in the City of Detroit.
- Pure Detroit, a Detroit-themed retailer with physical Detroit locations and an online store, began selling “IMPORTED FROM DETROIT” merchandise the day after the Super Bowl commercial aired.
- Pure Detroit used the phrase on apparel and other merchandise in a Detroit-pride, geographic-origin message and denied any intent to suggest sponsorship or affiliation with Chrysler.
- Chrysler sued under Lanham Act § 43(a) and state-law theories and moved for a preliminary injunction to stop Pure Detroit’s interim use of the phrase.

## Issues

1. Whether Chrysler showed a strong likelihood of success on its Lanham Act and related claims, including that “IMPORTED FROM DETROIT” was protectable and that Pure Detroit’s use was likely to cause consumer confusion.
2. Whether Chrysler showed irreparable harm absent injunctive relief.
3. Whether the balance of harms and the public interest favored enjoining Pure Detroit’s use during the litigation.

## Decision

- The court denied Chrysler’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
- The court found Chrysler had not shown a strong likelihood of success because the phrase was highly descriptive/geographically evocative and Chrysler had not made a strong preliminary showing of secondary meaning.
- The court found Chrysler’s evidence of likely confusion and actual confusion limited at the preliminary stage.
- The court found irreparable harm insufficiently supported, and concluded the balance of harms and public interest did not support restraining use of a descriptive geographic phrase during the case.

## Legal Principles

- A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy evaluated by four factors: likelihood of success, irreparable harm, balance of harms, and public interest; no single factor is dispositive, but lack of likely success can be fatal.
- Descriptive or geographically descriptive terms receive trademark protection only upon proof of acquired distinctiveness (secondary meaning).
- Large advertising expenditures and publicity may support secondary meaning, but recent adoption and short duration of use can weigh against finding that consumers uniquely associate a slogan with a single source.
- Likelihood of confusion is assessed under multiple factors, including strength of the mark, similarity, relatedness of goods, marketing channels, evidence of actual confusion, and intent; a weak mark reduces the weight of similarity.
- Use of a phrase in a descriptive, geographic-promotional sense can weigh against preliminary relief where exclusive control would restrict ordinary use of place-based language.

## Conclusion

The court declined to enjoin Pure Detroit’s “IMPORTED FROM DETROIT” merchandise because Chrysler did not make a strong preliminary showing that the slogan functioned as a protectable source identifier with established secondary meaning or that interim use would likely confuse consumers and cause irreparable injury, and because the equities and public interest favored allowing continued descriptive geographic use pending adjudication on the merits.


Chrysler Grp. LLC v. Moda Grp. LLC, 796 F. Supp. 2d 866 (E.D. Mich. 2011)