Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Hospitality International v. Indiana Hospitality Real Estate & Management

23 Monday Jul 2012

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

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Plaintiff, Hospitality International Inc., offers franchise opportunities for hotel and motel owners. They own the rights to 5 brands, including Red Carpet Inn, Passport Inn, Master Hosts Inns, Downtowner Inns and the subject of this lawsuit, Scottish Inns. Defendant has allegedly been operating under the Scottish Inns brand without authorization since 2009. Defendant’s predecessor-in-interest had a license agreement (see below) but Defendant never entered into an agreement and allegedly owe back-royalties of around $29,000. After Defendant failed to timely respond to Plaintiff’s cease-and-desist letter (see below), this lawsuit was filed, claiming trademark infringement and unjust enrichment.

Stay tuned for updates.

Hospitality International Inc. v. Indiana Hospitality Real Estate & Management LLC

Court Case Number: 1:12-cv-00998-WTL-MJD
File Date: Thursday, July 19, 2012
Plaintiff: Hospitality International Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Michael R. Franceschini of Ayres Carr & Sullivan PC
Defendant: Indiana Hospitality Real Estate & Management LLC
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Unjust Enrichment
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint:

License Agreement:

Cease & Desist Letter:

Stories from the Week that Was – 7/15/12-7/21/12

22 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by in Artists, Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Stories from the Week that Was

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Quiet week because I was out of town. In any case, here are the top stories I followed this week:

Judge rules Indiana owes IBM $12M over botched welfare program

Minnesota kills copyright trolling in its infancy

Representing Artistic Clients by Kenan Farrell on Prezi

I’m sure I missed something. If you’ve got a top intellectual property or technology story from last week, please leave a comment below.

Stories from the Week that Was – 7/8/12-7/14/12

15 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by in Copyright, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Privacy, Social Media, Stories from the Week that Was, Tech Developments, Trademark

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Here are the top stories I followed this week:

Ukrainian Students Develop Gloves That Translate Sign Language Into Speech

Officials: Past 12 months warmest ever for U.S.

Accused of downloading porn, Kentucky woman sues the pornographers

Here comes Skynet: Army drones almost ready to share sky with airlines

That’s Not My Phone, It’s My Tracker

What were your top stories of the week? Leave a comment below.

Indiana Copyright Litigation Update – Keystone Builders Resource Group v. Kennis R. Went, Jr. et al

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

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

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Architectural drawings are copyrightable. In this matter, Defendant has allegedly used Plaintiff’s architectural drawings without authorization. Note that the court’s scanned copy is missing Page 9 (and many of the pages are askew), so there’s a third claim I did not reference.

Let me know in the comments if you’re interested in updates to this case.

Keystone Builders Resource Group, Inc. et al v. Kennis R. Went, Jr. et al

Court Case Number: 1:12-cv-00939-SEB-DML
File Date: Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Plaintiff: Keystone Builders Resource Group, Inc., Lockridge Homes-Indianapolis, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Paul Joseph Carroll of Mercer Belanger
Defendant: Kennis R. Went, Jr., Jennifer S. Went, David Martin, Cassidy Martin, Dennis Vessels
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Misappropriation of Trade Secret, Unjust Enrichment
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Debra McVicker Lynch

Indiana Trade Dress Litigation Update – Mortar Net USA v. Masonry Reinforcing Corporation of America

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

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

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Mortar Net continues its attempts to protect its “dovetail-shaped line of fibrous mesh products for use in masonry applications” (see example in Exhibit A below). Mortar Net’s counsel have a pretty clear hurdle to overcome in the “functionality doctrine,” which prevents manufacturers from protecting specific features of a product by means of trademark law. If a feature gives a producer a competitive advantage which is not related entirely to its function as a brand identifier, then it cannot be trademarked, regardless of advertising and promotional efforts. Such features are more appropriately protected under patent law. This is Mortar Net’s third filing of the year (see Related Cases below) and all have been assigned to a different judge, so maybe they’ll get lucky and find a judge willing to extend trademark protection to their dovetail design.

Stay tuned for updates.

Related Cases:

Mortar Net USA Ltd v. Masonry Reinforcing Corporation of America

Court Case Number:    2:12-cv-00252-PPS-PRC
File Date:    Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Plaintiff:     Mortar Net USA Ltd
Plaintiff Counsel:     Daniel W Glavin of O’Neill McFadden & Willett LLP
Defendant:     Masonry Reinforcing Corporation of America
Cause:    Trade Dress Infringement, Federal Trademark Infringement, Trademark Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, Common Law Infringement Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition
Court:    Northern District of Indiana
Judge:     Chief Judge Philip P Simon
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Paul R Cherry

Complaint:

Exhibit A: