Tag Archives: Tanya Walton Pratt

Indianapolis company accused of selling counterfeit LED lighting fixtures

15 Monday Apr 2019

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

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An Indianapolis company has been accused of selling counterfeit LED lighting fixtures.

Electra Display, on Indy’s southeast side, has been sued for copyright infringement based upon the alleged copying of the plaintiff’s intellectual property, including copyrighted images from plaintiff’s sales brochures, and false advertising, based on Electra’s use of the images to deceive customers into believing that it sold plaintiff’s products, when Electra is alleged to actually sell an inferior, knock off product made by a Chinese manufacturer.

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The plaintiff, Massachusetts-based JLC-Tech LLC, owns several patents for its LED lighting technology, but doesn’t assert any patent infringement claims in the Complaint (below). Rather, this lawsuit simply seeks damages and injunctive relief against the use of the sales photographs and misleading advertising. 

Stay tuned for updates.

JLC-Tech LLC v. Electra Display

Court Case Number: 1:19-cv-01468-TWP-DLP
File Date: Thursday, April 11, 2019
Plaintiff: JLC-Tech LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Darren A. Craig of Frost Brown Todd LLC
Defendant: Edge Systems Group LLC d/b/a Electra Display
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, False Advertising
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Doris L. Pryor

Complaint:

Sunman BP sued for selling counterfeit Oakley sunglasses

18 Friday May 2018

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

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The defendants in this counterfeiting lawsuit are the owners and operators of a BP gas station located in Sunman, Indiana, who are accused of selling counterfeit Oakley sunglasses. The counterfeit products were observed for sale in the store by Plaintiff’s representatives.

The plaintiff, Oakley, Inc., seeks damages and injunctive relief.

Oakley, Inc. v. Sunman BP et al.

Court Case Number: 4:18-cv-00085-TWP-DML
File Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Plaintiff: Oakley, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Jason D. Groppe, Esq., Logan S. Bednarczuk, Esq.
Defendants: Swami Property Sunman Inc. dba Sunman BP, Chirag Patel, Does 1-10
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, False Designation of Origin, False Advertising, Federal Trademark Dilution, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition, Unjust Enrichment
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Complaint:

WORLD OF LEGGINGS vs. LEGGINGS WORLD…are you confused?

17 Tuesday Apr 2018

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

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The Plaintiff in this trademark lawsuit, California-based Muscle Flex, Inc., operates a hosiery website, worldofleggings.com, which boasts “5.5 million visitors, 27 million views, and millions of dollars in sales across the United States.”

The Defendants operate several hosiery stores called “Leggings World” inside Simon Property Group (“Simon”) properties across the Midwest and Northeast. Simon is included as a defendant in the lawsuit.

When Muscle Flex complained of the infringement to Simon, Simon responded by removing instances of “Leggings World” from its website and digital directories inside its malls, and sending cease-and-desist letters to tenants operating under the “Leggings World” name in its properties.

However, this didn’t satisfy Muscle Flex, which also wants to receive some money for damages, leading to some slight lawyer shade:

Simon has seemingly thrown in the towel on Leggings World, removing it from all Simon online directories (really, go try to find a store online), but we’ll see whether Leggings World decides to challenge Muscle Flex and continue operating the physical stores. Stay tuned for updates.

Muscle Flex, Inc. v. Simon Property Group, L.P. et al.

Court Case Number: 1:18-cv-1140
File Date: Friday, April 13, 2018
Plaintiff: Muscle Flex, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Christopher A. Brown of Woodard, Emhardt, Moriarty, McNett & Henry LLP, Connor Lynch of Lynch LLP (pro hac vice)
Defendants: Simon Property Group, L.P., Simon Property Group, Inc., Matt Murat Dagli, New Purple LLC
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, False Designation of Origin, Trademark Dilution, Common Law Trademark Infringement, Unjust Enrichment
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Tim A. Baker

Complaint:

Indy’s COMFORT STAY INN sued for trademark infringement by owner of COMFORT INN

17 Monday Jul 2017

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

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The Plaintiff in this trademark lawsuit is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. Among its many well-known brands are COMFORT INN and COMFORT SUITES. Plaintiff has used its family of COMFORT trademark since at least 1984.

Defendant operates a hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana under the name “Comfort Stay Inn.” Defendant’s utilizes the domain name comfortstayinn.com.

Cease-and-desist coomunications from Plaintiff’s attorney were unsuccessful, hence this lawsuit. Plaintiff asserts that Defendant’s hotel name is confusingly similar and has irreparably damaged the value of the COMFORT family of marks.

Choice Hotels International, Inc. v. American Hospitality Solution, LLC

Court Case Number: 1:17-cv-02402-TWP-DML
File Date: Friday, July 14, 2017
Plaintiff: Choice Hotels International, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Calvert S. Miller of Carson Boxberger LLP
Defendant: American Hospitality Solution, LLC
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, False Designation of Origin, Indiana Trademark Infringement, Indiana Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Complaint:

adidas sued for violating Jackie Robinson’s right of publicity

13 Thursday Jul 2017

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

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This lawsuit involves adidas’ alleged infringement of the right of publicity of deceased baseball player Jackie Robinson.

The plaintiff, CMG Worldwide Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the exclusive worldwide agent and representative for the estate of Jackie Robinson.

adidas allegedly, without authorization from Plaintiff, created and promoted merchandise based on the 70th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s first appearance as a Brooklyn Dodger. The products were promoted heavily by adidas and sponsored athletes on April 15, 2017…”Jackie Robinson Day.”

Plaintiff asks for an injunction against further sales, recovery for damages suffered, disgorgment of all of adidas’ profits and attorneys’ fees and costs, so there’s a lot on the line for adidas. Stay tuned for updates.

CMG Worldwide, Inc. v. adidas AG et al.

Court Case Number: 1:17-cv-02356-TWP-DWL
File Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Plaintiff: CMG Worldwide, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Theodore J. Minch of Sovich Minch, LLP
Defendant: adidas AG, adidas America, Inc.,  Does 1-10
Cause: False Endorsement, Unfair Competition, Violation of Right of Publicity, Common Law Unfair Competition, Unjust Enrichment, Deception
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Complaint: