Fort Wayne Printing Company has performed printing and related services in Northeast Indiana since 1902. They have a pending federal trademark application for FORT WAYNE that successfully passed its 30-day publication window on March 28, 2024. One day later, Fort Wayne Printing Company filed a federal trademark lawsuit in Indiana against a company using the domain FortWaynePrintShop.com.

The defendant, Allen & Goel Marketing Company, has been using the domain name fortwayneprintshop.com to advertise printing and related services. When attempting to purchase services at the domain, it redirects to their primary website, http://www.printshopnation.com.

It’s possible that the marketing company directly targeted Fort Wayne Printing Company in purchasing the FortWaynePrintShop.com domain. However, they may have just purchased a bunch of geographically descriptive domains (i.e. “[cityname]printshop.com) and didn’t check whether any of those names corresponded to a pre-existing company. In the latter scenario, you might expect them to simply give up the domain without incurring a federal lawsuit. By not relinquishing the domain, it could be an indication that this particular geographic domain is especially profitable for them. Further, the FortWaynePrintShop.com domain was first created on 11/11/2011 and the Internet Archive first captured the website in May 2013, so the defendant might have a valid acquiescence or laches defense.

Apparently unable to resolve this situation with normal cease-and-desist communications, probably due to the 10+ years use of the domain name, the plaintiff now seeks court intervention in the Northern District of Indiana. The fact that the lawsuit was filed one day after the trademark application’s publication window closed may indicate that the defendant was never contacted, in order to not tip them off to the application status. Either way, stay tuned for updates.

Optical Tactics, LLC d/b/a Fort Wayne Printing Company v. Allen & Goel Marketing Company

Court Case Number: 1:24-cv-00134-HAB-SLC
File Date: March 29, 2024
Plaintiff: Optical Tactics, LLC d/b/a Fort Wayne Printing Company
Plaintiff Counsel:
Defendant: Allen & Goes Marketing Company
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal False Designation of Origin, Federal Passing Off, Federal Unfair Competition, Trademark Dilution, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition, Injunctive Relief
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Holly A. Brady
Referred To: Susan L. Collins

Complaint: