Whether a platform moderator can claim trademark ownership of an online community's name when the platform itself created and hosted the underlying forum

No question identified. : 1 APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO: Justice Elena Kagan, Circuit Justice for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: Jaime Rogozinski is the founder of the popular Reddit group WallStreetBets. This case primarily asks whether it is the owner of a platform or the creator and moderator of a group on that platform who owns the trademark in the group’s name. Mr. Rogozinski respectfully seeks an extension of 60 days to file his petition for writ of certiorari. Mr. Rogozinski acknowledges that this application is made less than 10 days before the date the petition is due, and apologizes for the timing of this application. The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. § 1254(1). Mr. Rogozinski, the plaintiff-appellant before the Ninth Circuit, seeks review of the Ninth Circuit’s judgment filed June 11, 2025, which is attached. Mr. Rogozinski requests this extension because has been without counsel to handle the petition for writ of certiorari since shortly after the Ninth Circuit’s decision. Mr. Rogozinski has been looking for counsel to handle the petition since that time, and located and retained the undersigned counsel on September 4, 2025. Mr. Rogozinski respectfully requests an extension of 60 days for his newly retained 2 counsel to learn the details of the case and prepare a proper petition for writ of certiorari. Respectfully submitted, MATTHEW TOPIC Counsel of Record LOEvy + LOEVY 311 N. Aberdeen Chicago, IL 60515 (812) 243-5900 matt@loevy.com September 5, 2025 NOT FOR PUBLICATION F | L E D UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUN 11 2025 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK JAIME ROGOZINSKI, No. 24-735 , D.C. No. Plaintiff Appellant, 3:23-cv-00686-MMC v. MEMORANDUM* REDDIT, INC., Defendant Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Maxine M. Chesney, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted May 19, 2025 San Francisco, California Before: FRIEDLAND, BRESS, and MENDOZA, Circuit Judges. Plaintiff-Appellant Jaime Rogozinski appeals the district court’s order granting Defendant-Appellee Reddit, Inc.’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. We review de novo the district court’s dismissal of a complaint under Rule 12(b)(6). Applied Underwriters, Inc. v. Lichtenegger, 913 F.3d 884, 890 (9th Cir. 2019). We review for abuse of discretion the district court’s denial of leave to * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. amend. Telesaurus VPC, LLC v. Power, 623 F.3d 998, 1003 (9th Cir. 2010). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm. 1. Rogozinski failed to state a trademark claim because he failed to adequately plead ownership over the WALLSTREETBETS mark. “To acquire ownership of a trademark[,] it is not enough to have invented the mark first or even to have registered it first; the party claiming ownership must have been the first to actually use the mark in the sale of goods or services.” Hana Fin., Inc. v. Hana Bank, 735 F.3d 1158, 1163 (9th Cir. 2013), aff'd, 574 U.S. 418 (2015) (quoting Brookfield Commc’ns. Inc. v. W. Coast Ent. Corp., 174 F.3d 1036, 1047 (9th Cir. 1999)). Here, the core of the services at issue are the provision and hosting of r/WallStreetBets—an online forum-based community in which Reddit users exchange financial information. Rogozinski does not allege that he had previously used WALLSTREETBETS in commerce prior to its use on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit; and by Rogozinski’s own allegations, it was Reddit that created and provided the services that enabled Reddit’s many users to contribute to the discussion on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit by, for example, posting and engaging with one another about various trading strategies. Even if Rogozinski played a prominent role among those users, he has not stated a valid ownership claim over the WALLSTREETBETS mark. 2. Rog