Preliminary Injunction

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: MillerCoors LLC, v. Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC,

Case No.: 19-2200; 19-2713;19-2782

Officials: EASTERBROOK, HAMILTON, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Preliminary Injunction

On May 24, 2019, the district court entered an opinion that concludes with language that the judge believed would serve as a preliminary injunction. MillerCoors filed an appeal, which has been docketed as No. 19-2200. But the district court did not comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(d)(1)(C), which requires every injunction to be set forth without referring to any other document. See, e.g., Chicago v. Sessions, No. 17-2991 (7th Cir. Aug. 10, 2018) (en banc), slip op. 3 (Rule 65 “requires a separate document setting forth the terms of such an injunction”); Auto Driveaway Franchise Systems, LLC v. Auto Driveaway Richmond, LLC, 928 F.3d 670, 676 (7th Cir. 2019); BankDirect Capital Finance, LLC v. Capital Premium Financing, Inc., 912 F.3d 1054, 1057 (7th Cir. 2019); Bethune Plaza, Inc. v. Lumpkin, 863 F.2d 525, 527 (7th Cir. 1988); Chief Freight Lines Co. v. Teamsters Local No. 886, 514 F.2d 572, 578 n.6 (10th Cir. 1975).

In supplemental jurisdictional memoranda filed at our request after oral argument, both sides acknowledged that the district court failed to comply with Rule 65(d). Neither side asked us to depart from the decisions we have cited.

Decision

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.