Moving for a TRO or Preliminary Injunction in a Trademark Case: A Practitioner's Guide
By Casey Scott McKay ·
This guide is the operating manual for the first thirty days of a trademark case in which somebody needs to stop. It walks through twelve stages from the moment infringement is discovered to post-order compliance and contempt: the 48-hour triage that decides whether you have an injunction case at all, choosing the forum and reading the standing order before you draft a word, assembling the confusion record fast with specimens, authenticated screenshots, channel evidence, and investigator purchases, and building a declaration package that survives the "platitudes" objection. It gives model declaration and order language a practitioner can adapt, a decision tree for choosing between an ex parte TRO, an order to show cause, and a noticed motion, a stage-by-stage cost and timeline table, and an annotated proposed order drafted to be enforceable in a contempt proceeding. It covers expedited discovery under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d)(1), the Stored Communications Act trap in platform subpoenas, hearing mechanics and whether to accept consolidation under Rule 65(a)(2), how to compute and argue the Rule 65(c) bond from both sides, and the defense playbook of delay, narrowness, and transition. The doctrine lives in the companion article; everything here is execution.
IP and Technology > Trademarks | Guide | Published 6 January 2026 - Updated 2 May 2026 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. This is the operating manual for the first thirty days of a trademark case in which somebody needs to stop. Twelve stages, from the moment infringement is discovered through post-order compliance and contempt: the 48-hour triage that decides whether you have an injunction case at all; choosing the forum and reading the standing order before you draft a word; assembling the confusion record fast with specimens, authenticated screenshots, channel evidence, and investigator purchases; and building a declaration package that survives the "platitudes" objection. It gives model declaration and order language you can adapt, a decision tree for choosing between an ex parte TRO, an order to show cause, and a noticed motion, a stage-by-stage cost and timeline table, and an annotated proposed order drafted to be enforceable in a contempt proceeding. It covers expedited discovery under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d)(1), the Stored Communications Act trap in platform subpoenas, hearing mechanics and whether to accept consolidation under Rule 65(a)(2), and how to compute and argue the Rule 65(c) bond from both sides. The doctrine lives in the companion article; everything here is execution.
Keywords: preliminary injunction practice · temporary restraining order · rule 65 procedure · order to show cause · declaration package · irreparable harm declaration · expedited discovery · rule 26(d)(1) · notaro v. koch · injunction bond · rule 65(c) security · proposed injunction order · rule 65(d) specificity · rule 65(a)(2) consolidation · civil contempt · compliance report · 15 u.s.c. 1116(a) · actual confusion evidence · trademark litigation costs · defending a preliminary injunction
This is premium Marksy content — the full document is available to subscribers.