Judge in Nirvana Trademark Case ‘Inclined to Deny’ Dismissal Bid

A federal judge in California said he is “inclined to deny” designer Marc Jacobs’s motion to dismiss a trademark infringement claim filed against it by the band Nirvana.

Judge John A. Kronstadt of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California noted his “tentative views” on the motion in a civil minutes document docketed June 11.

Nirvana L.L.C. accuses Marc Jacobs International LLC of using a “virtually identical” logo to Nirvana’s smiley-face logo on its “Bootleg Redux Grunge” clothing collection.

Ads related to the collection refer to Nirvana songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Come As You ...