Trademark Lawsuit Revived Over DreamWorks Name

DreamWorks SKG, the movie studio formed by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, might have to make do with one less famous name--its own.

A federal appeals court Tuesday revived a trademark-infringement lawsuit against the company, allowing a case filed by an older, smaller company called Dreamwerks Production Group Inc. to proceed to trial.

Florida-based Dreamwerks, founded in 1984, organizes conventions for fans of “Star Trek” and other shows. It sued DreamWorks in 1995, a year after the Hollywood venture was formed.

Dreamwerks argued that its customers might be confused and think they were dealing with the studio.

A lower-court judge threw the case out, agreeing with the studio that the two companies do such different things that no reasonable consumer would mix them up.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in Pasadena, reversed that ruling Tuesday.

“Twenty years ago, DreamWorks may have had an argument that making movies and promoting sci-fi merchandise are different businesses,” the court said. “But movies and sci-fi merchandise are now as complementary as baseball and hot dogs.”