An unusual procedural approach during the trial of Gruma Corp. v. Mexican Restaurants Inc. recently led to a defense judgment in a trademark infringement suit for Barry Flynn and his client Mexican Restaurants Inc. (MRI).
Flynn, a partner in Gordon & Rees in Houston, says the trial judge granted his pretrial motion requesting a “rare” advisory jury, which he had never used before. The advisory jury heard all the evidence and issued a nonbinding verdict saying consumers would not confuse MRI’s trademark with plaintiff Gruma’s — a decision Flynn believes U.S. District Judge Michael Schneider took into account in his Sept. 13 judgment.
