Netflix Can Move Forward With ‘Running Point’ Show Amid Lawsuit

Netflix Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. can continue with the release of its new show “Running Point” after a district court denied Pepperdine University’s bid to halt it on Wednesday.

The university can’t succeed on its trademark infringement and false designation of origin claims because the Lanham Act doesn’t apply to the contested marks used in the show, according to Judge Cynthia Valenzuela’s chamber minutes. The marks Netflix uses are “artistically relevant,” and their use doesn’t “explicitly mislead” consumers as to the source of the series.

The series, which is produced by Mindy Kaling and starring Kate Hudson, ...