Pepsi Foe Finds Panel Skeptical of ‘RISE’ Trademark Appeal (1)

Canned-coffee drink maker Rise Brewing had a hard time persuading a Second Circuit panel that a federal district court made a mistake in deciding PepsiCo Inc. didn’t infringe its “RISE"trademark for the “MTN Dew Rise Energy” branded drinks.

The three-judge panel of of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit pushed back on Rise’s arguments that the district court erred in granting Pepsi summary judgment of noninfringement of Rise’s trademark because it misinterpreted an earlier Second Circuit decision reversing an injunction that had stopped Pepsi’s use of the mark.

They appeared skeptical about McArdle’s argument that there were ...