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Indiana Intellectual Property Blog

~ Trademark and Copyright Law Updates in Indiana

Indiana Intellectual Property Blog

Tag Archives: Cybersquatting

AAA sues Anderson’s All American Auto for Trademark Infringement, Cybersquatting

24 Thursday Mar 2022

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

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Cybersquatting, Federal False Designation of Origin, Federal Trademark Dilution, Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, Indiana Trademark Dilution, Indiana Trademark Infringement, Indiana Unfair Competition, James Patrick Hanlon, Mark J. Dinsmore

The plaintiff in this trademark lawsuit is the American Automobile Association (AAA), i.e. that card in your wallet that you only pull out when you get a flat tire or lock your keys in the car. I’m actually surprised to read in the Complaint (below) that AAA has only 60 million members. I figured just about every driving American (231 million Americans held valid driving licenses in 2020) had a membership. For the low price of an annual membership, AAA is an absolute bargain when you’re stuck on the side of the highway far from home. Importantly for this lawsuit, AAA claims to also offer auto repair services.

The defendant is an Anderson, Indiana-based company with the patriotic name “All American Auto Hail Repair” using the internet domains AAA-HAILDENT-REPAIR.BUSINESS.SITE and AAAHAILDENTREPAIR.COM to advertise its services. The defendant is a small garage providing automobile dent removal services.

The defendant might challenge whether AAA really offers auto repairs under the AAA brands, or whether automobiles are just towed away by AAA trucks to have repairs performed by third-party repair companies. However, despite the surprisingly low number of members, AAA will still likely be considered a “famous” brand, which could grant it broader protection for ancillary goods/services like auto dent repairs.

It seems like a quick resolution, although perhaps legally unnecessary, would be for the defendant to just select a different domain name(s). AllAmericanAutoDentRepair.com is available right now, just sayin’. Some fights aren’t worth fighting.

Stay tuned for updates.

The American Automobile Association, Inc. v. All American Auto Hail Dent Repair LLC d/b/a AAA Hail Repair et al.

Case Number: 1:22-cv-00568-JPH-MJD
File Date: March 23, 2022
Plaintiff: The American Automobile Association, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: David O. Tittle, Elizabeth S. Traylor of Dentons Bingham Greenebaum LLP
Defendant: All American Auto Hail Dent Repair LLC d/b/a AAA Hail Repair, Lavern Pflugh
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal False Designation of Origin, Federal Unfair Competition, Cybersquatting, Federal Trademark Dilution, Indiana Trademark Infringement, Indiana Trademark Dilution, Indiana Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James Patrick Hanlon
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint:

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Project management company files trademark lawsuit against potential scam artists

09 Monday Oct 2017

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

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Common Law Passing Off/Unfair Competition, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Cybersquatting, Declaratory Relief, False Designation of Origin, Trademark Infringement

Plaintiff operates a project management training company called “Project Management Academy.” Plaintiff has used the trademark since 2009 and owns several related federal trademark registrations.

The Defendants are accused of operating a similar company (some call it a scam) using the “Project Management Academy” or “PMA” trademarks.

Educate 360, LLC v. Patchree Patchrint et al.

Court Case Number: 4:17-cv-00078
File Date: Friday, October 6, 2017
Plaintiff: Educate 360, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: William P. Kelley, David M. Stupich of Stuart & Branigin LLP
Defendant:  Patchree Patchrint a/k/a Patty Jones and Anthony Christopher Jones
Cause: Declaratory Relief, Trademark Infringement, False Designation of Origin, Cybersquatting, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Passing Off/Unfair Competition
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: TBD
Referred To: TBD

Complaint:

View this document on Scribd

Fishers sign company sues competitor for cybersquatting

13 Wednesday Jul 2016

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

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Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition, Contributory Trademark Infringement, Conversion, Cybersquatting, Deception, False Designation of Origin, Federal Trademark Dilution, Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, Indiana Crime Victim's Relief Act, Jane Magnus-Stinson, Matthew P. Brookman, Violation of the CyberPiracy Prevention Act

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.

Screen Shot 2016-07-13 at 4.55.16 PM

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:

View this document on Scribd

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Oak Motors, Inc. (Indiana) v. Oak Motors, Inc. (California)

21 Monday Mar 2016

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

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Common Law Trademark Infringement, Cybersquatting, Declaratory Judgment, False Description, False Designation of Origin, Jane Magnus-Stinson, Litigation Update, Mark J. Dinsmore, Unfair Competition

Plaintiff has been operating as “Oak Motors” since 1985, buying and selling automobiles and providing financial services related to the purchase and sale or automobiles. Plaintiff has five primary physical locations and also advertises via its website.

Defendant, a California company providing similar services, began operating as “Oak Motors” in February 2014. Plaintiff first learned of Defendant’s adoption of the name in March 2015 and sent a cease-and-desist letter citing its prior rights and federal registration. Defendant allegedly first agreed to discontinue use of the “Oak Motors” mark but did not follow through and continues to use the trademark (and similar domain names), hence this lawsuit.

Oak Motors, Inc. (Indiana) v. Oak Motors, Inc. (California)

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-00595-JMS-MJD
File Date: March 16, 2016
Plaintiff: Oak Motors, Inc. (Indiana)
Plaintiff Counsel: Jonathan G. Polak, Zach Gordon of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Defendant: Oak Motors, Inc. (California)
Cause: False Designation of Origin, False Description, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, Cybersquatting, Declaratory Judgment
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Jane Magnus-Stinson
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint:

View this document on Scribd

Indiana Cybersquatting Litigation Update – BidPal v. Intermediaone et al

07 Friday Feb 2014

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

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Cybersquatting, Mark J. Dinsmore, Richard L. Young, Trademark Infringement

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

View this document on Scribd

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