Category Archives: Litigation

Indiana Cybersquatting Litigation Update – BidPal v. Intermediaone et al

07 Friday Feb 2014

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

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Plaintiff, BidPal, Inc., owns a federal trademark registration for BIDPAL. Defendant owns several BidPal-formative domain names, including Bidpal.com, Bidpal.org, Bidpal.info, Bidpal.biz, Bidpal.mobi, all of which are GoDaddy parked pages. Plaintiff made several attempts to contact Defendant but was unable to reach him.

Screen Shot 2014-02-07 at 10.45.14 AM

Plaintiff’s Complaint makes an interesting assertion that, since Defendant owns all of the domains listed above, Plaintiff was forced to adopt ” the far-inferior domain name www.bidpalnetwork.com.” In the age of search, where bidpalnetwork.com ranks 1st on the Google search results for “Bidpal” and none of Defendant’s domains rank at all, do you agree that there’s such a thing as a “far-inferior” domain name? Or just preferred and non-preferred domain names?

Plaintiff may be hoping for a Default Judgment if Defendant doesn’t decide to defend himself. This case may also help determine whether Indiana courts will rule that “parked” domains can constitute cybersquatting. Stay tuned for updates.

BidPal Inc. v. Intermediaone et al

Court Case Number: 1:14-cv-00168-RLY-MJD
File Date: Wednesday, February 05, 2014
Plaintiff: BidPal Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Paul B. Overhauser of Overhauser Law Offices LLC
Defendant: Intermediaone, Intermediaone-AGB, Peter Peterre, Bidpal.com, Bidpal.org, Bidpal.info, Bidpal.biz, Bidpal.mobi
Cause: Cybersquatting, Trademark Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Richard L. Young
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Al Reasonover v. Solarium

06 Thursday Feb 2014

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

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This is a trademark dispute over the mark “Tiki Tan” as used in connection with tanning salons. Both Plaintiff and Defendant are located in Indiana.

Al Reasonover v. Solarium LLC et al

Court Case Number: 3:14-cv-00235-PPS-CAN
File Date: Wednesday, February 05, 2014
Plaintiff: Al Reasonover
Plaintiff Counsel: Frank J. Agostino – Attorney at Law
Defendant: Solarium LLC, Solarium Bittersweet LLC
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Injunctive Relief, Common Law Unfair Competition
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Chief Judge Philip P. Simon
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein

Indiana Copyright Litigation Update – Countryman Nevada v. Does 1-16

27 Monday Jan 2014

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

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They’re back! Just when you thought the BitTorrent download cases had stopped in Indiana, Nicoletti is back with a new lawsuit involving “Charlie Countryman,” a film starring Shia LaBeouf, Rupert Grint and Evan Rachel Wood. The film was released November 15, 2013 in the United States to largely negative reviews. Having failed at the box office, the producers have apparently turned to lawyers to recoup some of their costs from the 16 Hoosiers unlucky enough to have (allegedly) downloaded the film.

Countryman Nevada LLC v. Does 1-16

Court Case Number: 1:14-cv-00019-RLM-RBC
File Date: Friday, January 24, 2014
Plaintiff: Countryman Nevada LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Paul J. Nicoletti of Nicoletti & Associates PLLC
Defendant: Does 1-16
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr.
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Roger B. Cosbey

Indiana Copyright Litigation Update – National Photo Group v. Federated Media et al

30 Monday Dec 2013

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

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This litigation involves the unauthorized use of celebrity photographs on a Fort Wayne country radio station’s website.

K105 Pictures

The lawsuit should serve as a reminder/warning to everyone operating a commercial website to only use photographs that:

  1. You own; or
  2. You have permission to use; or
  3. Are in the public domain.

This means going back through old pages and posts and removing/replacing unauthorized images. Failure to do this can result in expensive copyright litigation. If you have any questions about the photographs on your site, err on the side of caution and remove them until you’re able to properly determine ownership.

National Photo Group LLC v. Federated Media Inc. et al

Court Case Number: 3:13-cv-01405-PPS-CAN
File Date: Thursday, December 26, 2013
Plaintiff: National Photo Group LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Craig B. Sanders of Sanders Law PLLC
Defendant: Federated Media Inc., WQHK-FM
Cause: Direct Copyright Infringement, Contributory Copyright Infringement, Vicarious Copyright Infringement, Inducement of Copyright Infringement, Injunction, Attorney Fees and Costs
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Chief Judge Philip P. Simon
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Cummins v. T’Shirt Factory

17 Tuesday Dec 2013

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

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Here’s a lawsuit over counterfeit apparel being sold at kiosks around Indiana malls bearing the CUMMINS trademark. Cummins is an Indianapolis-based designer and manufacturer of power generation equipment, power systems, gasoline engines, custom power supplies. Check out some sample “counterfeits” below:

Counterfeiting

Cummins, Inc. v. T’Shirt Factory et al

Court Case Number: 1:13-cv-01972-WTL-DML
File Date: Friday, December 13, 2013
Plaintiff: Cummins, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: T. Joseph Wendt of Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Defendant: T’Shirt Factory, Freedom Custom Z, Shamir Harutyunyan, Does 1-10
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Trademark Dilution, Trademark Counterfeiting
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Debra McVicker Lynch