Dropbox Escape From ‘SmartSync’ Trademark Suit Nixed (1)

Dropbox Inc. must face trial for allegedly infringing a military software maker’s “SmartSync” trademark, a split Ninth Circuit panel said in reversing Dropbox’s win in a lower court.

A reasonable jury could plausibly find Ironhawk Techologies Inc. a victim of reverse confusion, where consumers mistakenly believe its product was made by the larger Dropbox, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.

The court said a dispute over the relevant consuming public for Ironhawk’s product should have been left to a jury. That determination figures into two factors of the likelihood of consumer confusion analysis courts use to ...