From JTH Tax LLC d/b/a Liberty Tax v. AMC Networks, Inc., decided today by Judge Paul Gardephe (S.D.N.Y.), rejects plaintiff's claim of trademark infringement in AMC's Better Call Saul:
[Season 6,] Episode 2 depicts a fictional tax preparation business called "Sweet Liberty Tax Services," which is operated by "convicted felon, Craig Kettleman, and his wife, Betsy Kettleman." Craig Kettleman was a client of Saul Goodman in Season 1 of Better Call Saul who was imprisoned after being convicted of embezzlement. The Kettlemans and Sweet Liberty defraud their clients "by skimming money from their tax refunds." Kim Wexler—one of the Show's central characters and Saul's wife—refers to the fictional tax business as a "rundown little mom and pop outfit." Wexler blackmails the Kettlemans by threatening to reveal their crimes to the IRS.
In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that the Show's Sweet Liberty Tax Services "is an obvious imitation of an actual Liberty Tax location, but twisted to paint Liberty Tax in a negative and disparaging light[,]" with "just the word 'Sweet' added." According to Plaintiff, similarities between the fictional Sweet Liberty Tax Services and the real Liberty Tax Service include the use of an inflatable Statue of Liberty, the use of checks bearing a Statue of Liberty logo, a Statue of Liberty wall mural inside the tax preparation office, and the use of a red, white and blue motif on the location's exterior ….
No, says the court:
