Tag Archives: Trademark Infringement

Noble Roman’s sues Ex-Franchisees for Trademark Infringement, Conversion, Theft

08 Monday Feb 2021

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

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The Defendants in this lawsuit are allegedly ex-franchisees of Noble’s Romans, selling gas station pizza from numerous “Luke” gas stations across Northern Indiana.

The Defendants are alleged to have continued utilizing Noble Roman’s intellectual property to advertise and sell Noble Roman’s-branded products and services after termination of their franchise agreement. Further, the Complaint alleges that the Defendants sold unauthorized “Noble Roman’s” products from at least one non-franchised location (see Complaint below, Section 22), but that location is not specifically identified.

The lawsuit was originally filed by Noble Roman’s counsel in Marion County Superior Court in October 2020 but has now been removed to the Southern District of Indiana.

There are often widely-conflicting viewpoints when such franchise arrangements go south, so stay tuned for the Defendant’s Answer and their side of this story.

Noble Roman’s Inc. v. Gateway Triangle Corp. et al.

Court Case Number: 1:21-cv-00407-JPH-TAB
File Date: February 5, 2021 (via Notice of Removal)
Plaintiff: Noble Romans, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: P. Adam Davis, Esquire of Davis & Sarbinoff, LLC
Defendant: Gateway Triangle Corp., 7405 Indy Corp., 850 Indy Corp., Northlake Marketing LLC, Thomas M. Collins II
Cause: Conversion under Indiana Code § 35-43-4-3, Theft under Indiana Code §35-43-4-2, Breach of Franchise Agreement, Trademark Infringement, Unjust Enrichment
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James Patrick Hanlon
Referred To: Tim A. Baker

Complaint:

Mobile App Developer sued for Trademark Infringement, Counterfeiting

21 Thursday Jan 2021

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

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The Plaintiff in this lawsuit, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), operates one of the world’s largest energy markets with more than $29 billion in annual gross market energy transactions. MISO provides power to 15 U.S. states and Manitoba.

The Defendant, an individual, is alleged to have created a mobile application called “Midcontinent ISO with Realtime Dashboard” that infringes MISO’s trademarks and misleads the consuming public that MISO produced or approves of the application. The Complaint also raises a concern that users are being tricked into entering legitimate MISO credentials into the non-endorsed application.

The purpose of the mobile application is unclear from the Complaint, but it seems to provide information about Plaintiff’s services, tracking energy rates and the status of the power grid. As such, perhaps the Defendant can articulate a “nominative fair use” defense, if use of the Plaintiff’s trademark was necessary to identify the Plaintiff’s products or services, and the Plaintiff’s trademarks weren’t used to suggest endorsement. However, the Defendant’s app also prominently featured Plaintiff’s design mark, which could undermine any fair use defense.

A review of Defendant’s Google Play store shows that they offer similar apps for other energy providers, including NYISO:

The Google Play listing and the app photos don’t contain the usual disclaimers that you’d want to see to best support a “nominative fair use” defense. The Midcontinent ISO application was removed from the Google Play store on January 11, 2021 and remains down today. The Complaint requests injunctive relief to prevent a future relaunch of the application.

Stay tuned for updates.

Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. v. Sullivan

Court Case Number: 1:21-cv-00143-JRS-DML
File Date: January 18, 2021
Plaintiff: Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Kevin W. Kirsch, David A. Mancino, Kevin P. Flynn of Baker & Hostetler LLP
Defendant: James F. Sullivan a.k.a. Jim Cassidy
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Counterfeiting
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James R. Sweeney II
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Complaint:

Website development business sues canine trainer for copyright, trademark infringement

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by in Intellectual Property

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We’re back! Due to the coronavirus, trademark and copyright filings have been fairly nonexistent for the last six months. But things are picking up again and the Indiana Intellectual Property Blog is back in action to monitor and review intellectual property filings in Indiana.

This case involves a dispute between co-owners of an online instruction course about canine behavior modification. The defendant, a well-known canine trainer, appears to be caught with the plaintiffs in a dispute over her percentage of profit for her contributions to the plaintiff’s series of online instruction courses and canine behavior modification manuals.

It’s always unfortunate when a closely-held business results in a legal controversy between co-owners. The copyright and trademark claims in this case seem to just be leverage for the plaintiffs toward getting their intended result rather than anything particularly interesting for intellectual property practitioners.

Stay tuned for updates.

Content & Commerce, Inc., Kevin DeTrude v. Donna Chandler, Show Colors, Inc., My K9 Behaves, LLC

Court Case Number: 1:20-cv-02488-JMS-DLP
File Date: September 25, 2020
Plaintiff: Content & Commerce, Inc., Kevin DeTrude
Plaintiff Counsel: B.J. Brinkerhoff, Hannah Kaufman Joseph of Jeselksis Brinherhoff and Joseph, LLC
Defendant: Donna Chandler, Show Colors, Inc.
Cause: Declaratory Judgement of Copyright Ownership, Copyright Infringement, Declaratory Relief as to Trademark Ownership, Trademark Infringement, Derivative Claim For Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Derivative Claim of Waste, Self-Dealing, Mismanagement and Misappropriation of Corporate Assets and Usurpation of Corporate Opportunities, Derivative Claim for Theft and Conversion, Direct Claim for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Direct Claim of Waste, Self-Dealing, Mismanagement and Misappropriation of Corporate Assets and Usurpation of Corporate Opportunities, Direct Claim for Theft and Conversion, Breach of Contract
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Jane E. Magnus-Stinson
Referred To: Doris L. Pryor

Complaint:

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

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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:

Counterfeit Bongs dominate the February Indiana IP Litigation Docket

01 Friday Mar 2019

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

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Two photography cases, including one from serial filer Richard Bell, and a breach of franchise agreement lawsuit…other than that, the February Indiana IP litigation docket was totally dominated by filings by RooR International. RooR’s defendants are Indiana smokeshops and their alleged sale of counterfeit bongs.

RooR markets itself as “the premier manufacturer of glass water pipes by emphasizing the brand’s unwavering use of quality materials and focusing on scientific principles which facilitate a superior smoking experience.”

As you can see from the screenshot below, RooR International has gone on a recent filing spree to combat the sale of counterfeit products:

Screen Shot 2019-03-01 at 9.18.39 AM.png

RooR’s defendants, small smoke and vape shops from across Indiana, are accused of Federal Trademark Counterfeiting, Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal False Designation of Origin and Federal Unfair Competition. Heavy stuff.

Sample RooR Complaint

The other non-bong, non-Bell cases involve the breach of a franchise agreement and the unauthorized use of a photograph of a New Year’s Eve fireworks display.

Baskin-Robbins Franchising LLC, BR IP Holder LLC v. Big Scoops, Inc., David M. Glasgow Jr.

Bachner v. USA Halloween Planet Inc.