Tag Archives: Litigation Update

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:

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Indian Industries d/b/a Escalade Sports v. Gnarly Sporting Goods

03 Tuesday Jul 2012

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

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Plaintiff, Indian Industries, Inc. d/b/a Escalade Sports, owns the marketing rights to several popular sporting good products, including Stiga® ping pong tables, Harvard® air hockey tables and the Goalrilla® basketball goal. Defendant, Gnarly Sporting Goods, is an alleged rogue online retail website, purporting to sell Plaintiff’s products. However, Plaintiff claims Defendant is not an authorized dealer and, apparently, doesn’t even sell the products but rather just lists them with below-market prices. In the Complaint (below), Plaintiff speculates that Defendant’s website is “for the purpose of forcing authorized distributors and authorized retailers with price matching policies to sell to consumers at artificially low prices.”

Leave a comment below if you or your company has dealt with a similar situation with a rogue online site.

Indian Industries d/b/a Escalade Sports v. John Doe d/b/a Gnarly Sporting Goods

Court Case Number:    1:12-cv-00900-RLY-TAB
File Date:    Friday, June 29, 2012
Plaintiff:     Indian Industries, Inc. d/b/a Escalade Sports
Plaintiff Counsel:     Charles Johnson Meyer, William A. McKenna of Woodard, Emhardt, Moriarty, McNett & Henry, LLP
Defendant:     John Doe d/b/a Gnarly Sporting Goods
Cause:    Trademark Infringement, False Advertising, Unfair Competition
Court:   Southern District of Indiana
Judge:     Judge Richard L. Young
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Tim A. Baker

Indiana Court Upholds Social Media Ban for Sex Offenders

25 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Bloggers, Indiana, Legislation, Litigation, Social Media, Southern District of Indiana

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A recent ruling from the Southern District of Indiana is making news around the country. Despite a challenge by the ACLU, an Indiana law that bans sex offenders from various social media sites has been upheld. Indiana’s law is similar to laws being challenged in other states. The ACLU has promised an appeal to this ruling, so stay tuned for more.

A national civil rights group said Sunday it would appeal a federal judge’s decision to uphold an Indiana law that bans registered sex offenders from accessing Facebook and other social networking sites used by children.

On Friday, Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said in an 18-page order that the state has a strong interest in protecting children and that the rest of the Internet remains open to those who have been convicted.

“Social networking, chat rooms, and instant messaging programs have effectively created a ‘virtual playground’ for sexual predators to lurk,” Pratt wrote in the ruling, citing a 2006 report by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that found that one in seven youths had received online sexual solicitations and one in three had been exposed to unwanted sexual material online. ABC News

Below are the ruling and original complaint:

DOE v. PROSECUTOR, MARION COUNTY, INDIANA
1:12-cv-00062-TWP-MJD

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Century 21 Real Estate v. Realty Group I

24 Sunday Jun 2012

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

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Century 21 Real Estate, LLC v. Realty Group I, LLC f/d/b/a Century 21 Realty Group I et al

Court Case Number:    1:12-cv-00862-WTL-DML
File Date:    Thursday, June 21, 2012
Plaintiff:     Century 21 Real Estate, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel:     Patrick F. Moran of Gordon & Rees LLP
Defendant:     Realty Group I, LLC f/d/b/a Century 21 Realty Group I, Realty Group McCoun/82nd Street, LLC f/d/b/a Century 21 Realty Group, Kevin Kirkpatrick, John Dick, Phillip McCoun
Cause:    Trademark Infringement, False Designation of Origin, False Advertising, Trademark Dilution, Common Law Unfair Competition, Breach of Contract, Audit Demand/Accounting, Unjust Enrichment
Court:    Southern District of Indiana
Judge:     Judge William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Debra McVicker Lynch