Tag Archives: James Patrick Hanlon

Carmel Teenager sued over Counterfeit Eric Emanuel Apparel

31 Thursday Oct 2024

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

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The plaintiff in this Indiana trademark lawsuit is a New York-based luxury sportswear designer, Eric Emanuel. The defendant is a Carmel, Indiana teenager allegedly selling counterfeit Eric Emanuel apparel imported from China. Per the Complaint (below), the counterfeit products are allegedly bought by the defendant from China suppliers, stored at his mother’s Carmel home, and promoted and sold online.

The fashion designer seeks the teenager’s profits, actual and compensatory damages, statutory damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs. It seems this teenager picked the wrong designer to counterfeit and what seemed like a “get rich quick” scheme could quickly turn to “get poor quick.”

Stay tuned for updates.

EE Holding Group LLC v. PDGROWTH LLC et al.

Court Case Number: 1:24-cv-01895-JPH-TAB
File Date: October 25, 2024
Plaintiff: EE Holding Group LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Anne K. Ricchiuto of Peele Law Group
Defendant: PDGROWTH LLC, Patrick D. Garton
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal False Designation of Origin, Federal False Endorsement, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James Patrick Hanlon
Referred To: Tim A. Baker

Complaint:

Copyright Infringement Lawsuit filed in Southern District of Indiana by the “Riot Photographer’s Riot Photographer”

20 Wednesday Sep 2023

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

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The plaintiff in this copyright infringement lawsuit is a retired independent journalist from the UK. His work is focused on social issues such as policing, homelessness, drugs, racial and social conflict, social exclusion, and environmental protection. He is described as “the riot photographer’s riot photographer.”

The defendant is an Indianapolis-based investigation firm that allegedly used one of the plaintiff’s photographs on its website without permission. The Complaint (below) indicates that the parties have been in contact but unable to negotiate a reasonable license. Presumably the cost of a reasonable license will go up now that a lawsuit has been filed, but let’s see whether their fee negotiations are helped by the filing, perhaps now with the input of an insurer who might be responsible for the cost.

Stay tuned for updates.

Hoffman v. Lauth Investigations International Inc

Court Case Number: 1:23-cv-01678-JPH-MKK
File Date: September 18, 2023
Plaintiff: David Hoffman
Plaintiff Counsel: Michael A. Swift of Maginot, Moore & Beck, LLP
Defendant: Lauth Investigations International Inc
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Removal of Copyright Management Information
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James Patrick Hanlon
Referred To: M. Kendra Klump

Complaint:

Pro Se Copyright (?) Complaint filed against OnStar General Motors – U.K.

07 Monday Nov 2022

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

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Pro se complaints are often a bit unusual, typically foregoing many of the requisite formalities of a proper federal lawsuit initiating document, but this case will certainly require an Amended Complaint. I’ll leave it to the blog readers to decipher what could be a complaint for copyright infringement of a work uniform and hats. The Complaint (below) doesn’t elaborate on how the defendants, OnStar General Motors – U.K. and Terri Harris (apparently a Support Assistant at the Library of Congress), are involved.

I wonder if this was meant to be a copyright application. However, the first page at least is styled like a Complaint and it was mailed to the Southern District of Indiana, so we’ll have to wait and see. Stay tuned for updates.

Mickles v. OnStar General Motors – U.K.

Court Case Number: 2:22-cv-00496-JPH-MG
File Date: November 4, 2022
Plaintiff: Terrell Mickles, Canietra Brown, Andrea Shoots, Carlette Mitchell
Plaintiff Counsel: Pro Se
Defendants: OnStar General Motor – U.K., Terri Harris @ Library of Congress
Cause: Copyright Infringement (?)
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James Patrick Hanlon
Referred To: Mario Garcia

Complaint:

BMI sues Terre Haute Bar for Copyright Infringement

07 Thursday Apr 2022

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

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It has been awhile since BMI last filed an infringement lawsuit in Indiana. Their target this time around is The Verve, a music club and cocktail bar in Terre Haute, Indiana.

BMI allegedly reached out to the Defendants over sixty (60) times since March 2018 in an attempt to sell her the required public performance license. Accordingly, BMI now brings a lawsuit with 6 claims of copyright infringement based on the following playlist being performed at The Verve without a license on April 29, 2019:

These BMI lawsuits never end well for the venue, so hopefully a federal lawsuit will finally get the Defendants’ attention and an appropriate license can be purchased to resolve the conflict.

Stay tuned for updates.

Broadcast Music, Inc. et al. v. Warehouse L.L.C. d/b/a The Verve et al.

Case Number: 2:22-cv-00136-JPH-DLP
File Date: Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Plaintiff: Broadcast Music, Inc.; Peermusic III Ltd.; Universal- Songs of Polygram International, Inc.; Songs of Universal, Inc.; EMI Consortium Songs, Inc. d/b/a EMI Longitude Music; Fourteenth Hour Music Inc.; Springtime Music, Inc.; EMI Blackwood Music, Inc.; Sony/ATV Songs LLC; Fall Out Boy Inc. d/b/a Chicago X Softcore Songs
Plaintiff Counsel: April A. Wimberg of Dentons Bingham Greenebaum
Defendant: Warehouse L.L.C. d/b/a The Verve, Connie Wrin
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James Patrick Hanlon
Referred To: Doris L. Pryor

Complaint:

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

24 Thursday Mar 2022

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

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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: