Tag Archives: Mark J. Dinsmore

Fan Company sues Unauthorized Online Dealer for Trademark Infringement

04 Wednesday Sep 2019

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

The Plaintiff, a fan company based in Zionsville, Indiana, sells its electric fans to consumers via its website, showrooms or through authorized dealers.

The Defendant is alleged to be offering unauthorized sales of Plaintiff’s fans at the website http://www.lightingmerchant.com. Importantly for consumers, electric fans sold by Defendant are not covered by Plaintiff’s warranty.

The Complaint (below) alleges that the Defendant purchases the products from one or more authorized dealers and then sells the products to retail customers. The identity of the authorized dealers is not revealed in the Complaint.

Fanimation, Inc. v. Decor Selections, LLC

Court Case Number: 1:19-cv-03648-JPH-MJD
File Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Plaintiff: Fanimation, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Harold C. Moore, Michael A. Swift of Maginot, Moore & Beck, LLP
Defendant: Decor Selections, LLC d/b/a Lighting Merchant
Cause: Declaratory Judgment, Injunctive Relief, Trademark Infringement, False Designation of Origin, Dilution, Unfair Competition, Unjust Enrichment
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James Patrick Hanlon
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint:

Breach of contract leads to lawsuit over psychotherapy techniques, trademarks

30 Tuesday Jul 2019

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

The Plaintiff in this lawsuit, Functional Family Therapy Associates, Inc. is a Seattle, Washington-based organization dedicated to training psychotherapists. Plaintiff utilizes a “Functional Family Therapy” protocol to help troubled youth and their families overcome a variety of behavioral problems. Plaintiff provides services in 33 U.S. states and 10 foreign countries.

The Defendants allegedly operate an entity in Bloomington, Indiana called Functional Family Therapy Associates, in violation of Plaintiff’s registered trademarks. One of the Defendants, Sexton, was previously a member of Plaintiff’s organization. More detailed facts are set forth in the (redacted) complaint below.

This lawsuit arises from a breach of contract and the Defendants’ false advertising, unfair competition, and service mark infringement resulting from Defendants’ unauthorized use of Plaintiff’s registered and common law intellectual property rights in Plaintiff’s unique and original family therapeutic services protocol and Plaintiff’s development, testing, training, and marketing thereof.

An unredacted Complaint was filed under seal pursuant to a confidentiality obligation in an agreement between the parties.

F.F.T., LLC v. Sexton, Ph.D et al

Court Case Number: 1:19-cv-03027-RLY-MJD
File Date: Friday, July 19, 2019
Plaintiff: F.F.T., LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Holiday W. Banta, T. Earl LeVere, Megan Hedrick of Ice Miller LLP
Defendant: Thomas Sexton, Ph.D., Functional Family Therapy Associates, Inc., Astrid Van Dam
Cause: Breach of Contract, Wrongful Interference with Business Relationships and Prospective Business Advantages, Wrongful Interference with a Contractual Relationship, Unfair Competition, False Advertising, Federal Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Unjust Enrichment
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Richard L. Young
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Redacted Complaint:

Oakley sues So. Indiana Gas Stations over Counterfeit Eyewear

26 Monday Feb 2018

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

The Defendants in this lawsuit, the owners of gas stations located in Batesville, Osgood, and New Point, Indiana, are accused of selling counterfeit Oakley and Ray-Ban sunglasses. The counterfeit products were observed for sale in the stores by Plaintiff’s representatives and are believed to originate from a common source, to be determined.

Stay tuned for updates.

Luxottica Group et al. v. Avni Petroleum, Inc. et al.

Court Case Number: 1:18-cv-0537-WTL-MJD
File Date: Friday, February 23, 2018
Plaintiff: Luxottica Group S.p.A., Oakley Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Brent H. Blakely, Jessica C. Covington of Blakely Law Group
Defendant: Avni Petroleum, Inc., Delaware BP, Pari, Inc. dba Batesville Food Mart, Rani Petroleum, Inc. dba Batesville Shell, SAI Petroleum Inc. dba New Point Food Mart, Does 1-10
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, False Designation of Origin and False Advertising, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition, Unjust Enrichment
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint: 

Trademark Lawsuit filed in Indiana against Titleist, Cleveland Golf Club Counterfeiter

26 Monday Dec 2016

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Defendant, a resident of Carmel, Indiana, is accused of selling counterfeit golf clubs and golf accessories. In addition to trademark claims, the Complaint includes a wide range of Indiana code violations.

screen-shot-2016-12-26-at-5-01-48-pm

Acushnet Company et al. v. Nunns et al.

Court Case Number:1:16-cv-3379-RLY-TAB
File Date: Thursday, December 15, 2016
Plaintiff: Acushnet Company, Roger Cleveland Golf Company, Inc., Dunlop Sports Co. LTD
Plaintiff Counsel: Jonathan G. Polak of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Defendant: Giorgio V. Nunns a/k/a George Nunns a/k/a Georgie Nunns a/k/a Giorgio, Custom Golf Solutions, LLC d/b/a bogie’s nearly new golf d/b/a gnunns81 d/b/a golf customsolutions15
Cause: Trademark Counterfeiting, Trademark Infringement, False Designation of Origin, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Conversion, Forgery, Counterfeiting, Theft, Criminal Mischief
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Richard L. Young
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint:

Miami (OH) Student Apartments sued over ANNEX Trademark

21 Wednesday Sep 2016

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Since 2013, Plaintiff has used the trademark THE ANNEX in connection with nine student housing facilities in three states. Seven of the student housing facilities are in Indiana and one is in Marion, Ohio (one hour north of Columbus). Plaintiff has no trademark registration.

Defendant recently built a student housing facility in Oxford, Ohio (home of the Miami University RedHawks) called, you guessed it, Annex.

With plans to expand to other college towns, Plaintiff maintains that Defendant’s use of a similar name will cause consumer confusion. Unable to resolve their dispute with cease-and-desist communications, Plaintiff has filed this lawsuit to assert its rights to THE ANNEX in the Midwest.

Whether they wind up being called “Annex” or not, the new Oxford apartments should do fine. A nice pool and allegedly the largest clubhouse in Oxford. Looking at their Facebook page though, it will be a big shame to lose of all the cool Annex swag. They even have an “Annex”-branded shuttle bus. Based on Plaintiff’s dependence on common law rights and Defendant’s already substantial investment, I could see the Oxford team putting up a strong defense.

Stay tuned for updates.

screen-shot-2016-09-21-at-6-53-25-am

Mecca Companies Inc. d/b/a Annex Student Living v. Trinitas Ventures LLC

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-02499-WTL-MJD
File Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Plaintiff: Mecca Companies Inc. d/b/a Annex Student Living
Plaintiff Counsel: Bradley M. Stohry of Reichel Story LLP
Defendant: Trinitas Ventures
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, Violation of Ohio Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Common Law Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint: