Category Archives: Southern District of Indiana

Richard Bell Sues IU, Purdue, A Place for Mom

21 Wednesday Sep 2016

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

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Richard Bell strikes again…and again…and again. Mr. Bell has filed eight more copyright lawsuits over his Indianapolis skyline photo. Several individuals, a senior living facility, Indiana University and Purdue University all join the illustrious list of Bell defendants.

People, stop using Mr. Bell’s photographs!

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Court Case Number: 1:2016-cv-02434-TWP-DKL
File Date:  Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Buckley
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Denise K. LaRue

Court Case Number: 1:2016-cv-02436-JMS-DML
File Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Tipton
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Jane Magnus-Stinson
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Court Case Number: 1:2016-cv-02451-SEB-DML
File Date: Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: A Place for Mom, Inc.
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Court Case Number: 1:2016-cv-02463-TWP-DML
File Date: Thursday, September 15, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Indiana University
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Court Case Number: 1:2016-cv-02482-SEB-DKL
File Date: Friday, September 16, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: East Coast Health Insurance, Inc.
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Denise K. LaRue

Court Case Number: 1:2016-cv-02488-RLY-DML
File Date: Friday, September 16, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Purdue University
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Richard L. Young
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Court Case Number: 1:206-cv-02491
File Date: Sunday, September 18, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Powell et al
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Court Case Number: 1:2016-cv-2501
File Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Hornberger Imports, Inc.
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Miami (OH) Student Apartments sued over ANNEX Trademark

21 Wednesday Sep 2016

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

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Since 2013, Plaintiff has used the trademark THE ANNEX in connection with nine student housing facilities in three states. Seven of the student housing facilities are in Indiana and one is in Marion, Ohio (one hour north of Columbus). Plaintiff has no trademark registration.

Defendant recently built a student housing facility in Oxford, Ohio (home of the Miami University RedHawks) called, you guessed it, Annex.

With plans to expand to other college towns, Plaintiff maintains that Defendant’s use of a similar name will cause consumer confusion. Unable to resolve their dispute with cease-and-desist communications, Plaintiff has filed this lawsuit to assert its rights to THE ANNEX in the Midwest.

Whether they wind up being called “Annex” or not, the new Oxford apartments should do fine. A nice pool and allegedly the largest clubhouse in Oxford. Looking at their Facebook page though, it will be a big shame to lose of all the cool Annex swag. They even have an “Annex”-branded shuttle bus. Based on Plaintiff’s dependence on common law rights and Defendant’s already substantial investment, I could see the Oxford team putting up a strong defense.

Stay tuned for updates.

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Mecca Companies Inc. d/b/a Annex Student Living v. Trinitas Ventures LLC

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-02499-WTL-MJD
File Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Plaintiff: Mecca Companies Inc. d/b/a Annex Student Living
Plaintiff Counsel: Bradley M. Stohry of Reichel Story LLP
Defendant: Trinitas Ventures
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, Violation of Ohio Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Common Law Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint:

Rich Bell sues Aramark Corporation over unauthorized use of Indianapolis skyline photograph

29 Monday Aug 2016

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

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This time around Mr. Bell has snagged a big fish, the Aramark Corporation, specifically the Indianapolis branch of their Refreshment Services Division.

Somebody has unwisely used Mr. Bell’s skyline photograph on the Indianapolis branch’s website: http://www.aramarkrefreshments.com/webstore/nav/locations/Indianapolis.action

Use the “Richard Bell” tag at left to view his other litigation.

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Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-02291-SEB_MJD
File Date: Friday, August 26, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Aramark Corporation
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint:

Exhibit B (Screen Shot of Defendant’s website):

Fishers sign company sues competitor for cybersquatting

13 Wednesday Jul 2016

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

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Plaintiff, based in Fishers, Indiana, is in the business of graphic design, sign manufacturing, metal fabrication, and creating promotional material and apparel.

Plaintiff’s website is located at www.eye4group.com.

Defendant is in the business of sign making and associated tools and products and is a direct competitor of Plaintiff in the Indianapolis area.

Defendant allegedly registered the domain “www.eyefourgroup.com” on October 1, 2015 and directed all traffic to its own website. That’s a no-no.

The domain is currently not active.

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Eye 4 Group, LLC v. Indianapolis Sign Works Inc. et al.

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-01864-JMS-MPB
File Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Plaintiff: Eye 4 Group, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Jennifer L. Mozwecz of SRM Law, Joe Duepner of Duepler Law, LLC
Defendant: Indianapolis Sign Works Inc., Andrew Chapman
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, False Designation of Origin, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition, Federal Trademark Dilution, Contributory Trademark Infringement, Deception, Conversion, Indiana Crime Victim’s Relief Act, Cybersquatting, Violation of the CyberPiracy Prevention Act
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Jane Magnus-Stinson
Referred To: Matthew P. Brookman

Complaint:

Eli Lilly sues to prevent online sale of unauthorized foreign pet medications

07 Thursday Jul 2016

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

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The defendant in this trademark lawsuit, an online pet supply store, is alleged to be selling unauthorized foreign pet medication in the United States. According to the Complaint (below), foreign medications, primarily from South Africa, are being sold in violation of FDA mandates.

The specific brands at issue are ELANCO, COMFORTIS, TRIFEXIS, INTERCEPTOR and CAPSTAR pet medicines.

The Honorable Jane Magnus Stinson entered a default judgment and injunction against the prior owners of the same website on June 13, 2014, in Case No. 1:13-cv-01800-JMS-DML. New owners subsequently resumed and expanded sales, hence this follow-up lawsuit.

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Eli Lilly Company et al. v. Best Value Pet Supplies

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-01787-RLY-DML
File Date: Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Plaintiff: Eli Lilly and Company, Novartis Tiergesundheit AG
Plaintiff Counsel: Jan M. Carroll, Anne N. DePrez of Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Defendant: Scott Martin d/b/a Best Value Pet Supplies, Does 1-10
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, Indiana Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Richard L. Young
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Complaint:

Horror film The Lazarus Effect accused of infringing Pro Se Plaintiff’s script

13 Monday Jun 2016

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

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Defendants, creators of a horror movie titled The Lazarus Effect (starring Olivia Wilde and Mark Duplass), are accused of infringing the pro se Plaintiff’s literary work, Lazari Taxa. The Complaint doesn’t specify which copyrightable elements from Plaintiff’s manuscript were allegedly copied by the horror film.

Stay tuned for updates.

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Fillmore v. Blum et al.

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-01423-SEB-MPB
File Date: Thursday, June 9, 2016
Plaintiff: Christopher “Chris” Wayne Fillmore
Plaintiff Counsel: Pro Se
Defendant: Jason Blum d/b/a Blumhouse Productions, Jeanette Brill, Luke Dawson, Matthew Kaplan d/b/a Chapter One Films, Robyn Marshall, Jimmy Miller d/b/a Mosaic Management, Rick Osaka d/b/a Catchlight Films, Jeremy Slater, Cody Zwieg d/b/a Supergravity Pictures, Does 1-10
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Matthew P. Brookman

Complaint:

Author dissatisfied with own cover art sues book publisher

08 Wednesday Jun 2016

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

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This dispute arises between an author and his book publisher. In addition to writing a book, the author also designed his own original artwork for the cover. After two rounds of artwork proofs, the publisher allegedly went ahead and published the book without the author’s final approval (the author had actually signed the final approval form but claims to have later redacted his approval via email…the full story is laid out in the Exhibits below).

The book publisher is alleged to have “knowingly published and printed Plaintiff’s Works even after Plaintiff made very clear to Defendant of his displeasure and dissatisfaction of the cover art for his Works as proposed by Defendant.”

In case you’re wondering, the VARA right of attribution – by which the author could prevent the use of his name in connection with a prejudicial modification of his work – doesn’t apply here due to the exception in 17 USC 106A(c)(3):

(3) The rights described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) shall not apply to any reproduction, depiction, portrayal, or other use of a work in, upon, or in any connection with any item described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of the definition of “work of visual art” in section 101

Here’s that section from 17 USC 101, my emphasis added:

(A)(i) any poster, map, globe, chart, technical drawing, diagram, model, applied art, motion picture or other audiovisual work, book, magazine, newspaper, periodical, data base, electronic information service, electronic publication, or similar publication;

(ii) any merchandising item or advertising, promotional, descriptive, covering, or packaging material or container

Stay tuned for updates.

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Murdock v. Author Solutions, LLC

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-01398-SEB-DML
File Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Plaintiff: Antara Murdock
Plaintiff Counsel: Mathew K. Higbee, Esq. of Higbee & Associates
Defendant: Author Solutions, LLC
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Complaint:

Exhibits:

Great Divide Brewing sues Red Yeti Brewing over Yeti trademarks

06 Monday Jun 2016

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

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Denver-based Great Divide Brewing Company has been using the registered trademark YETI in connection with “Beer and Ale” since 2005. Specifically, Great Divide has a range of imperial stouts utilizing the Yeti word mark and a design mark of the outline of a yeti, the pose closely emulating the gait from the famous Bigfoot video. Great Divide’s yeti is usually white on packaging and marketing materials, but sometimes red.

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Jeffersonville, Indiana-based The Red Yeti, a restaurant/brewpub serving a limited selection of its own beer (currently a porter and hefeweizen), recently celebrated its second anniversary. Their logo is, not surprisingly, a red yeti in the typical walking pose.

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When Red Yeti failed to satisfactorily meet Great Divide’s cessation demands, this lawsuit was filed. Stay tuned for updates.

Great Divide Brewing Company v. Red Yeti Brewing Company, Inc.

Court Case Number: 4:16-cv-00084-TWP-DML
File Date: Friday, June 3, 2016
Plaintiff: Great Divide Brewing Company
Plaintiff Counsel: Michael W. McClain, Robert W. DeWees, III of McClain DeWees, PLLC
Defendant: Red Yeti Brewing Company, Inc.
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, False Designation of Origin, Federal Dilution, Common Law Unfair Competition, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Deceptive Trade Practices
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Complaint:

Richard Bell sues infant health organization over use of Indy skyline photo in a 2011 PowerPoint presentation

27 Friday May 2016

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

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Richard Bell’s skyline photo crusade continues, this time against an organization “committed to improving birth outcomes and health disparities that exist within communities of color throughout the United States.”

In 2011, the National Healthy Start Association held its annual Spring Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. One presentation focused specifically on Indianapolis’ efforts to enhance infant survival and family well-being. One slide of the accompanying PowerPoint included 4 photographs of Indianapolis, one of which was Mr. Bell’s skyline photo. You can view the full PowerPoint and the allegedly infringing slide here.

Five years later, Google Images apparently found the image buried within the old PowerPoint and Mr. Bell pounced.

Let this be a lesson to all PowerPoint presenters…time does not exist on the internet. Even old uses of photos from past slideshows need to be checked and cleared of potential copyright infringement. If Google can find it, so can zealous rights holders. Copyright law is strict liability (meaning your intent doesn’t matter, just whether you did it or not) and while fair use defenses might save the day here, litigation is still time-intensive and expensive.

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Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-01301-JMS-DKL
File Date: Thursday, May 26, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: National Healthy Start Association
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Jane Magnus-Stinson
Referred To: Denise K. LaRue

Complaint:

Today’s Richard Bell copyright targets…community development consulting firm, importer of European vacuum products, hospitality management company

24 Tuesday May 2016

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

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Indy skyline photographer Richard Bell has filed three additional copyright infringement lawsuits, this time against a community development consulting firm, an importer of European vacuum products and a hospitality management company.

Use the “Richard Bell” tag at left to view his other litigation.

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Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-01256-TWP-DML
File Date: Saturday, May 21, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Progressive Urban Management Associates
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-01257-WTL-DML
File Date: Saturday, May 21, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Vacuforce, LLC
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-01260-WTL-DML
File Date: Monday, May 23, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Alliance Hospitality Management, LLC
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Representative Complaint: