Category Archives: Indiana

Lawsuit filed in Indiana over “Genesis” trademark for Window Blinds

30 Thursday Jun 2022

Posted by in Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Northern District of Indiana, Trademark

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The Plaintiff in this trademark lawsuit is a West Lafayette, Indiana-based provider of high-quality window treatments and blinds. The Plaintiff owns a trademark registration for GENESIS in connection with “window blinds, window shades, and venetian blinds,” with a claimed date of first use of April 1, 1994.

The Defendants are Coulisse, a Dutch company (operating out of Miami, Florida) that has been selling window coverings since 1992. Coulisse has begun promoting a line of “Genesis” smart window coverings, consisting of “elegant screens with a focus on functionality.”

Stay tuned for the Defendants’ response, but the easiest solution seems to be a quick rename of their Genesis concept line, which is just one of several available lines. A few promotional documents will require some text change but that’s fairly easily accomplished.

Lafayette Venetian Blind, Inc. v. Coulisse Distribution LLC et al.

Case Number: 4:22-cv-00047
File Date: June 29, 2022
Plaintiff: Lafayette Venetian Blind, Inc. v. Coulisse Distribution LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: William P. Kealey, David M. Stupich of Stuart & Branigin LLP
Defendant: Coulisse Distribution LLC, Coulisse Holding USA Inc.
Cause: Declaratory Relief, Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, False Designation of Origin, Common Law Trademark Infringement
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Philip P. Simon
Referred To: Andrew P. Rodovich

Complaint:

Mid-June 2022 Indiana Intellectual Property Litigation Update

15 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Northern District of Indiana, Southern District of Indiana, Trademark

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While all eyes were on the Depp/Heard defamation litigation last month, it was a quiet but interesting month in Indiana Intellectual Property litigation. Amazon and the Ligonier, Indiana-based perfumery have now fully briefed Amazon’s Motion to Dismiss. RE/MAX also seeks to dismiss its Defendants’ counterclaims. YouTuber Omi in a Hellcat is claiming lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue, although he needed to quickly amend (i.e. increase) their Indiana sales statistics via Declaration after filing a Motion to Dismiss.

Which Indiana intellectual property lawsuits are you following most closely?

Noble Roman’s, Inc. v. Gateway Triangle Corp. et al. (SD, filed 2/5/2021) – No update this month.

Egglife Foods, Inc. v. Crepini, LLC (ND, filed 5/28/2021) – No update this month.

Sears Authorized Hometown Stores, LLC v. Lynn Retail, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 6/4/2021) – The parties’ discovery deadlines were extended to June 17, 2022.

Noble Roman’s, Inc. v. AMI Stores Management, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 6/6/2021) – No update this month.

AWGI, LLC et al. v. CLD Trucking Co. d/b/a Atlas Moving Systems AMS (SD, filed 7/22/2021) – On June 13, 2022, the Defendant was ordered to pay the Plaintiffs $10,020.50 in attorney’s fees and costs.

RE/MAX, LLC et al. v. Dulin et al. (SD, filed 8/24/2021) – On May 27, 2022, the Plaintiffs filed their Reply Brief in support of their Motion to Dismiss Defendants’ Counterclaims.

Forest River, Inc. v. inTech Trailers, Inc. (ND, filed 8/31/2021) – No update this month.

Thomas v. ooShirts, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 9/24/2021) – No update this month. The parties have until July 1, 2022 to file dismissal documents.

Edutainment Live, LLC v. Video Game Palooza et al. (SD, filed 10/11/2021) – No update this month.

Innovative Sports Management Inc. v. La Jalisco LLP (SD, filed 12/15/2021) – No update this month.

Gabet et al. v. Amazon.com. Inc. et al. (ND, filed 1/20/2022) – The Plaintiffs filed their Response to the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss on May 20, 2022. Amazon filed its Reply Brief on May 27, 2022. On June 8, 2022, the Plaintiffs filed a Response to the Motion to Transfer Case.

Reid v. Stephenson (SD, filed 1/27/2022) – No update this month.

Autoniq, LLC v. Laser Appraiser, LLC (SD, filed 2/21/2022) – The lawsuit was dismissed on May 26, 2022.

Microsoft Corporation v. Solution Hat, LLC d/b/a Think Global et al. (SD, filed 2/25/2022) – The parties held a telephonic status conferences on June 13, 2022. A status report regarding settlement must be filed by July 15, 2022.

The American Automobile Association, Inc. v. All American Auto Hail Dent Repair LLC d/b/a AAA Hail Repair et al. (SD, filed 3/23/2022) – No update this month.

NuStar Enterprises LLC v. Reloaded Merch LLC et al. (ND, filed 4/1/2022) – The Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction and Improper Venue. Shortly thereafter, a Declaration was filed by Defendants correcting the data in the Motion re: Indiana sales.

Mapes v. Top Tier Marketers LLC d/b/a Artfily et al. (SD, filed 4/4/2022) – On June 2, 2022, the Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment was denied because the Plaintiff has not yet obtained a Clerk’s entry of default against Defendants.

Broadcast Music, Inc. et al. v. Warehouse L.L.C. d/b/a The Verve et al. (SD, filed 4/6/2022) – The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice and without costs on June 2, 2022.

The Evolutionary Level Above Human, Inc. v. Havel et al (ND, filed 5/18/2022) – On June 14, 2022, Defendants Havel and Weaver each filed a Motion for Extension of Time to File Answer.

May 2022 Updates

April 2022 Updates

March 2022 Updates

February 2022 Updates

January 2022 Updates

December 2021 Updates

Indiana Lawsuit filed over Intellectual Property of Heaven’s Gate Mass Suicide Group

23 Monday May 2022

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Northern District of Indiana, Trademark

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The Plaintiff in this lawsuit is The Evolutionary Level Above Human, Inc., a for-profit foundation claiming to own all physical property and intellectual property of the Heaven’s Gate religious group, which committed the largest mass suicide in U.S. history in 1997. Among the claimed intellectual property are copyrights in audio cassettes, audiovisual works, fabric designs, lithographic prints, and literary works, as well as various trademark registrations for HEAVEN’S GATE.

The Defendants, three individuals, are accused of publicly sharing copies of the audio tapes and video tapes on a free online file sharing and storage site called “4Shared.com.” Per the Complaint (below), Defendant Havel anticipated being sued for sharing the works, posting the following comment on his website:

“So just weeks ago, [a third party] who I had been in contact with on and off for years sent me the digitized audios, all in .mp3 format and I quickly sent them to [Defendant Bartel] and someone else who I know I can trust to be sure to upload them to the internet in mulitple [sic] places so that even if [the Foundation] somehow sue us it will be far too late to keep them from being available to those who want to listen to them.”

The Defendants subsequently provided live streamed discussions advising others how to obtain copies of the allegedly infringed works. Numerous works were live-streamed on YouTube. T-shirts bearing the Plaintiff’s registered trademarks has been advertised by the Defendants. The Complaint alleges further actions taken by the Defendants to prevent the Plaintiff from enforcing its copyrights.

Having anticipated a lawsuit, presumably the Defendants have some type of solid defense ready to go. I expect fair use arguments (criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching), and probably some challenges to the foundation’s ownership of the claimed intellectual property. But t-shirt sales don’t usually go hand-in-hand with valid fair uses so we’ll just wait for the Defendants’ Answer for more clarification of their goals in sharing the works.

The Evolutionary Level Above Human, Inc. d/b/a/ The Telah Foundation v. Havel et al.

Case Number: 3:22-cv-00395-JD-MGG
File Date: May 18, 2022
Plaintiff: The Evolutionary Level Above Human, Inc. d/b/a The Telah Foundation
Plaintiff Counsel: Isaac S. Crum of Messner Reeves LLP
Defendant: Steven Robert Havel, Cathy JoAnn Weaver, Jason Bartel
Cause: Federal Copyright Infringement, Contributory Copyright Infringement, Conspiracy, Federal Trademark Infringement
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Jon E. DeGuilio
Referred To: Michael G. Gotsch, Sr.

Complaint:

Omi in a Hellcat Threatens $30 Million Counterclaim in YouTube Response to Trademark Infringement Lawsuit

25 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by in Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Trademark

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Ordinarily it’s not wise for a client to speak publicly about their ongoing legal proceedings. But when the client is a YouTube celebrity, I guess it’s expected that there will be some type of video response. Omi in a Hellcat, the defendant in a recently-filed Indiana trademark infringement lawsuit involving his Reloaded Merch brand, has posted an explosive video response on YouTube promising a full legal defense along with a $30 million counterclaim.

Presumably the Defendant has received counsel from attorneys, but you’d be hard pressed to figure out what he was told from his video comments. Starting off by accusing the Plaintiff of trying to steal his hard work, the Defendant then indicates that he intends to litigate and file a petition to cancel against the Plaintiff’s RELOADED trademark registration.

The Defendant claims to have evidence of garments created prior to the Plaintiff’s date of first use. If those garments were created under the Reloaded brand (he does not specify in the video) and sold in interstate commerce (again, not specified), that could be useful for proving priority. Actual court filings by the Defendant’s counsel may give us that information.

With no indication that the Defendant will relinquish his Reloaded Merch brand, I’d expect this litigation to be stayed pending the resolution of the TTAB cancellation proceeding, should that be filed today as mentioned in the video. We’ll post the relevant TTAB documents once filed. Stay tuned for updates.

Mid-April 2022 Indiana Intellectual Property Litigation Update

15 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Northern District of Indiana, Southern District of Indiana, Trademark

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Several new interesting lawsuits were filed since mid-March, so we’ll look forward to watching those develop over the next few months. In existing lawsuits, RE/MAX and Amazon have filed Motions to Dismiss, while Think Global have filed their Answer to Microsoft’s allegations of running a phony tech support scheme. The Amazon Brief is an interesting read considering the extensive litigation history between the parties.

What case are you watching most closely?

Noble Roman’s, Inc. v. Gateway Triangle Corp. et al. (SD, filed 2/5/2021) – No update this month.

Delta Faucet Company v. Iakovlev et al. (SD, filed 3/25/2021) – No update this month. 

Egglife Foods, Inc. v. Crepini, LLC (ND, filed 5/28/2021) – No update this month.

Sears Authorized Hometown Stores, LLC v. Lynn Retail, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 6/4/2021) – A Case Management Plan was approved on March 21, 2022. No other updates.

Noble Roman’s, Inc. v. AMI Stores Management, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 6/6/2021) – No update this month.

Phoenix Intangibles Holding Company et al. v. Virk Brothers, LLC et al. (ND, filed 7/9/2021) – The parties have been ordered to file dismissal papers by May 2, 2022.

Poulsen Roser A/S v. Gardens Alive, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 7/14/2021) – A Stipulation of Dismissal was filed on April 11, 2022.

AWGI, LLC et al. v. CLD Trucking Co. d/b/a Atlas Moving Systems AMS (SD, filed 7/22/2021) – No update this month. The Plaintiff is still seeking to enforce the default judgment from September 2021.

RE/MAX, LLC et al. v. Dulin et al. (SD, filed 8/24/2021) – On April 1, 2022, RE/MAX filed a Motion to Dismiss Defendants’ Counterclaims. The parties jointly extended discovery deadlines.

Forest River, Inc. v. inTech Trailers, Inc. (ND, filed 8/31/2021) – No update this month.

Thomas v. ooShirts, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 9/24/2021) – No update this month.

Edutainment Live, LLC v. Video Game Palooza et al. (SD, filed 10/11/2021) – The Defendants’ Preliminary Exhibit List was filed on March 25, 2022. No other updates.

Innovative Sports Management Inc. v. La Jalisco LLP (SD, filed 12/15/2021) – The Complaint was served on March 9, 2022. No other updates.

Corson v. Vive Exterior Design, LLC et al. (SD, filed 1/17/2022) – A Notice of Voluntary Dismissal was filed on April 12, 2022.

Gabet et al. v. Amazon.com. Inc. et al. (ND, filed 1/20/2022) – Amazon filed a Motion to Dismiss on April 4, 2022. The Brief in Support (below) highlights five reasons why the Complaint fails to state a claim. The Answer also informs in a footnote that this is the third lawsuit filed by Plaintiffs against Amazon and that Amazon will separately move to transfer venue to the Southern District of Indiana. The parties held a pretrial conference on April 12, 2022, whereby discovery has been stayed pending the ruling on the Motion to Dismiss.

Reid v. Stephenson (SD, filed 1/27/2022) – No update this month.

Autoniq, LLC v. Laser Appraiser, LLC (SD, filed 2/21/2022) – No update this month.

Microsoft Corporation v. Solution Hat, LLC d/b/a Think Global et al. (SD, filed 2/25/2022) – The Defendants filed an Answer (all general denials) on March 22, 2022. The Defendants’ counsel is Michele S. Katz of ADVITAM IP, LLC, via pro hac vice, with local counsel of Alice M. Morical and Christopher D. Wagner of Hoover Hull Turner LLP.

The American Automobile Association, Inc. v. All American Auto Hail Dent Repair LLC d/b/a AAA Hail Repair et al. (SD, filed 3/23/2022) – The Defendants were served with the Complaint on April 8, 2022.

NuStar Enterprises LLC v. Reloaded Merch LLC et al. (ND, filed 4/1/2022) – No update yet.

Mapes v. Top Tier Marketers LLC d/b/a Artfily et al. (SD, filed 4/4/2022) – No update yet.

Broadcast Music, Inc. et al. v. Warehouse L.L.C. d/b/a The Verve et al. (SD, filed 4/6/2022) – No update yet.

March 2022 Updates

February 2022 Updates

January 2022 Updates

December 2021 Updates