context: There is one additional aspect of the fraud analysis that the district court did not address. If the declarant subjectively believes the applicant has a superior right to use the mark, there is no fraud, even if the declarant was mistaken.
citation_a.signal: see
citation_a.identifier: 724 F.2d 1545, 1545
citation_a.parenthetical: rejecting a defendant's fraud claim where the plaintiff was the "senior use[r] of th[e] term"
citation_a.sentence: See Bose, 580 F.3d at 1246 (“There is no fraud if a false misrepresentation is occasioned by an honest misunderstanding or inadvertence without a willful intent to deceive.”). Here, The Florida Priory did not put forth any evidence to establish that Pace — or Plaintiff Order, for that matter — knew or believed that The Ecumenical Order or The Florida Priory had a superior right to the marks at issue. See Angel Flight, 522 F.3d at 1211; Citibank, 724 F.2d at 1545 (rejecting a defendant’s fraud claim where the plaintiff was the “senior use[r] of th[e] term”); see also Sovereign Order of Saint John v. Grady, 119 F.3d 1236, 1241 (6th Cir.1997) (“[A] valid trademark registration requires only that the registrant ‘believe’ himself to be the owner of the mark.” (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 1051)). Even assuming knowledge of The Ecumenical Order as of 1983, Plaintiff Order’s relevant service mark registrations provide that the marks were first used in commerce in 1926 and 1927.
citation_b.signal: see also
citation_b.identifier: 119 F.3d 1236, 1241
citation_b.parenthetical: "[A] valid trademark registration requires only that the registrant 'believe' himself to be the owner of the mark." (quoting 15 U.S.C. SS 1051
citation_b.sentence: See Bose, 580 F.3d at 1246 (“There is no fraud if a false misrepresentation is occasioned by an honest misunderstanding or inadvertence without a willful intent to deceive.”). Here, The Florida Priory did not put forth any evidence to establish that Pace — or Plaintiff Order, for that matter — knew or believed that The Ecumenical Order or The Florida Priory had a superior right to the marks at issue. See Angel Flight, 522 F.3d at 1211; Citibank, 724 F.2d at 1545 (rejecting a defendant’s fraud claim where the plaintiff was the “senior use[r] of th[e] term”); see also Sovereign Order of Saint John v. Grady, 119 F.3d 1236, 1241 (6th Cir.1997) (“[A] valid trademark registration requires only that the registrant ‘believe’ himself to be the owner of the mark.” (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 1051)). Even assuming knowledge of The Ecumenical Order as of 1983, Plaintiff Order’s relevant service mark registrations provide that the marks were first used in commerce in 1926 and 1927.