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Lulu v. Hulu: What's All of the Hullabaloo?

By Lauren Sullins Ralls
June 27, 2008

The lawsuit between 'Lulu.com' and 'hulu.com' led to headlines such as 'Lulu SuSues Hulu' and 'Lulu Says Hulu Made a Legal Boo-Boo' in the national press and throughout the Internet. While the rhyming nature of these two Web sites provided entertaining fodder for journalists and bloggers, in Lulu Enterprises, Inc. v. N-F Newsite, LLC, aka Hulu, LLC, et. al, Case No. 5:07-CV-347-D, 2007 WL 3101011 (E.D.N.C. Oct. 19, 2007), the court focused its denial of Plaintiff Lulu Enterprises, Inc.'s motion for preliminary injunction not on the rhyming nature of the domain names, but upon the Plaintiff's inability to prove imminent harm from the launch of Defendant's 'hulu.com' Web site. Rather than focusing on a likelihood of confusion analysis, the court's decision instead contains useful commentary on the effects of statements made in federal registration applications, and the likely expansion of the use of the mark, as they relate to the 'imminent harm' standard in trademark and unfair competition cases.

The Case

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