• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer

Indiana Intellectual Property Blog

~ Trademark and Copyright Law Updates in Indiana

Indiana Intellectual Property Blog

Tag Archives: Christopher A. Nuechterlein

Indiana Trade Dress Litigation Update – Forest River v. Winnebago Industries

19 Saturday Dec 2015

Posted by Kenan Farrell in Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Southern District of Indiana, Trade Dress, Trademark

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christopher A. Nuechterlein, Common Law Trade Dress Infringement, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition, False and Misleading Representations, False Designation of Origin, Federal Trade Dress Infringement, Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, Robert L. Miller

This lawsuit involves the popular RPOD travel trailer, sold by Plaintiff since 2009, and an allegedly infringing DROP trailer, sold by Defendant since September 2015.

It will be interesting to see what trade dress rights can be protected for a small travel trailer. Importantly, trade dress cannot be functional. Specifically, the Complaint references “the exterior shape, the total visual image, the interior layout, interior fabric patterns and colors, and model numbers.”

RPOD Complaint Comparison

Forest River Inc v. Winnebago Industries Inc et al

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00609-RLM-CAN
File Date: Friday, December 18, 2015
Plaintiff: Forest River, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Jonathan P. Froemel, Georgina D. Jenkins of Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Defendant: Winnebago Industries, Inc., Winnebago of Indiana, LLC
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Trade Dress Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, False Designation of Origin, False and Misleading Representations, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Trade Dress Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr.
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein

Complaint:

View this document on Scribd

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Horn v. Wilson

10 Tuesday Nov 2015

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christopher A. Nuechterlein, False Description, Joseph S. Van Bokkelen, Litigation Update, Trademark Counterfeiting, Trademark Dilution, Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition

Plaintiff, the Shipshewana Spice Company, has sold quality spices under the trademark “HAPPY SALT” since 1994. Defendant allegedly operates a website selling knockoff spices.

The product comparison image from the Complaint (full text below) seems like a slam dunk for the Plaintiff. Similar product name, company name (Shipshewana Spice Company vs. Shipshewana Best Spice Company…that’s just mean), packaging, etc. It’s pretty bad.

Screen Shot 2015-11-10 at 9.10.14 AM

One important question is how has Plaintiff let this go on since January 2013? The public health and safety considerations alone of having counterfeit spices on the market would seem to beg for injunctive relief. Waiting too long to take action on a trademark claim can invite concurrent use arguments or, worse, a laches defense.

Stay tuned for updates.

Kevin Horn v. Bob Wilson

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00524-JVB-CAN
File Date: Friday, November 6, 2015
Plaintiff: Kevin Horn
Plaintiff Counsel: Michael D. Marston, Garrick T. Lankford of Botkin & Hall LLP
Defendant: Bob Wilson
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Trademark Counterfeiting, False Description, Trademark Dilution, Unfair Competition
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein

Complaint:

View this document on Scribd

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Indigo Vapor Enterprises v. Indigo Vapor Company

07 Wednesday Oct 2015

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christopher A. Nuechterlein, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition, False Designation of Origin, Federal Cybersquatting, Federal Trademark Dilution, Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, Litigation Update, Robert L. Miller

Plaintiff, based in South Bend, Indiana,  is an international seller of vaping and e-cigarette materials, including e-juice and holds two U.S. registrations (word mark and stylized) for INDIGO VAPOR. Plaintiff has been using its trademarks since September 2012.

Defendant, an Arizona company, is also selling e-cigarette and vaping products under the mark INDIGO VAPOR from the domain indigovaporcompany.com. It is not clear from the Complaint when Defendant first began using its trademark, although Defendant appears to be the junior user. Reddit communications detailed in the Complaint indicate that Defendant was aware of Plaintiff’s use of the INDIGO VAPOR trademark when selecting its business name.

Indigo Vapor Enterprises LLC v. Indigo Vapor Company LLC et al

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00451-RLM-CAN
File Date: Thursday, October 1, 2015
Plaintiff: Indigo Vapor Enterprises LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: John A. Drake of LaDue Curran & Kuehn LLC
Defendant: Indigo Vapor Company LLC, Robert Lee Martin, Charles Nandier
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, False Designation of Origin, Federal Trademark Dilution, Federal Cybersquatting, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr.
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein

View this document on Scribd

Concert Photographer File Another Copyright Lawsuit over Violation of Creative Commons License

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christopher A. Nuechterlein, Contributory Infringement, Copyright Infringement, Jon E. DeGuilio, Removal of Copyright Management Information

Larry Philpot has filed another suit over alleged use of a photograph of Willie Nelson (related cases here, here, and here). In addition to infringement, Philpot is also claiming that defendant intentionally removed his copyright management information from the photograph.

Larry G. Philpot v. Gray Television, Inc. et al

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00145-JD-CAN
File Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Plaintiff: Larry G. Philpot
Plaintiff Counsel: Larry G. Philpot – Pro Se
Defendant: Gray Television, Inc., Gray Television Group, Inc.
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Removal of Copyright Management Information, Contributory Copyright Infringement
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Jon E DeGuilio
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Christopher A Nuechterlein

View this document on Scribd

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Agdia Inc. v. Jun Qiang Xia et al

17 Tuesday Feb 2015

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christopher A. Nuechterlein, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition, Cyberpiracy, False Advertising, False Designation of Origin, Jon E. DeGuilio, Litigation Update, Northern District of Indiana, Trademark Infringement

Jun Q. Xia was employed by Agdia until 2001. After leaving the company, Xia allegedly violated the terms of a non-competition agreement. The ensuing lawsuit was resolved by a permanent injunction order in 2002. Later, Xia formed AC Diagnostics, which directly competes with Agdia. The AC Diagnostics website, acdiainc.com, is only one letter different than Agdia Inc and Xia allegedly covertly embedded the Agdia name into the website so that it was searchable without being visible.

Agdia Incorporated v. Jun Qiang Xia and AC Diagnostics, Inc.

Court Case Number: 3:15-cv-00075
File Date: Monday, February 16, 2015
Plaintiff: Agdia Incorporated
Plaintiff Counsel: James M. Lewis, Michael J. Hays of Tuesley Hall Konopa LLP
Defendant: Jun Qiang Xia, AC Diagnostics, Inc.
Cause: Trademark Infringement, False Designation of Origin and False Advertising, CyberPiracy, Common Law Unfair Competition, Common Law Trademark Infringement
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Jon E. DeGuilio
Magistrate Judge: Christopher A. Nuechterlein

View this document on Scribd

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Categories

  • Advertising Law (1)
  • Artists (23)
  • Authors (20)
  • Bloggers (37)
  • Branding (29)
  • Business Law (9)
  • Copyright (327)
  • Dear KLF Legal (4)
  • Defamation (5)
  • Entertainment Law (14)
  • Estate Law (2)
  • Family Law (2)
  • Fashion (5)
  • Federal Initiatives (33)
  • Indiana (603)
  • Indianapolis (51)
  • Intellectual Property (662)
  • Just for Fun (25)
  • KLF Legal (19)
  • Legislation (34)
  • Litigation (595)
  • Musicians (13)
  • Nonprofit (6)
  • Northern District of Indiana (215)
  • Patent (44)
  • Privacy (15)
  • Right of Publicity (8)
  • Social Media (56)
  • Southern District of Indiana (369)
  • Stories from the Week that Was (42)
  • Supreme Court (13)
  • Tech Developments (119)
  • Trade Dress (26)
  • Trade Secret (15)
  • Trademark (363)
  • What I'm Reading (8)

Bloggers Copyright Federal Initiatives Indiana Indianapolis Intellectual Property Legislation Litigation Northern District of Indiana Patent Social Media Southern District of Indiana Stories from the Week that Was Tech Developments Trademark

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Indiana Intellectual Property Blog
    • Join 81 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Indiana Intellectual Property Blog
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...