Court blocks ASU suit against ‘COVID parties’ Instagram
The person behind an anonymous Instagram account that promoted “COVID parties” for Arizona State University students has withstood a legal challenge from the university, after a lawsuit was rejected by a federal appeals court.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a lawsuit filed by the Arizona Board of Regents in August 2020 contending the “ASU covid parties” Instagram was trademark infringement and false advertising.
A three-judge panel Friday cited the “implausibility of the allegations” brought by the Arizona Board of Regents, the governing body for ASU.
In rejecting the lawsuit, the judges agreed with a lower court’s dismissal of the claims.
They said it’s not likely that the posts would confuse or deceive people into thinking the messages came from ASU. That includes one post that used a university trademark, because it also had profanity.
The judges took a jab at the Board of Regents’ claims, saying the Instagram posts appear to be “expressive work” in how they mocked the board and ASU.
“To the extent ABR’s (the board’s) appeal attempts to improperly use trademark laws to block the expression of negative views about the university and its administration, such efforts fail,” the judges wrote.
An ASU spokesperson declined to comment on the ruling. A spokesperson for the regents did not respond to a request for comment.
The Board of Regents in August 2020 sued the unknown individual behind the account, plus Facebook, which owns Instagram, in federal court. Instagram removed the account after the lawsuit was filed, and the board dropped Facebook from the suit around a month later.
The regents argued the account was misusing ASU’s trademark and “spreading dangerous misinformation about COVID-19 just as students are returning to ASU’s campuses to begin classes.”
The account had posted in summer 2020 that it was “time to party!” and claimed to be “THROWING HUGE PARTIES AT ASU.” It called COVID-19 a “hoax.”
The regents’ lawsuit said the account illegally used ASU’s trademark and maroon and gold colors and spread false information about the university. ASU believed the account was trying to disrupt its operations.
Someone filed a response to the lawsuit in late August 2020 as the “John Doe” behind the account, but the judge rejected it given its “obscenities, inflammatory language, and insults” lobbed at the Board of Regents and ASU in the filing.
The case moved forward in federal court without response from opposition. Still, the Board of Regents’ claims were unsuccessful, both initially and upon appeal.
Court of Appeals:
Posts unlikely to confuse
The Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court on all grounds.
Of the 18 Instagram posts by “John Doe,” only one included a university trademark, per the appeals court’s opinion. That same post also included profanity.
“A reasonable consumer would not think that a university would use such language when addressing the public,” the judges wrote.
The Board of Regents cited the Lanham Act related to the trademark claims, but the judges said that only applies in the commercial context, and the Instagram user was not using ASU’s trademark to sell goods or services.
Rather, the trademarks were used to “criticize and mock” the Board of Regents and its policies, the judges said.
A review of the posts, comments and context determined there was “no likelihood of confusion,” per the judges.
The appeals court thus determined the lower court was not wrong in dismissing the case because the Board of Regents’ complaint lacked merit and was insufficient.
The court of appeals’ decision is “not for publication,” meaning for the most part it can’t be used as legal precedent in future cases.