Ordinarily it’s not wise for a client to speak publicly about their ongoing legal proceedings. But when the client is a YouTube celebrity, I guess it’s expected that there will be some type of video response. Omi in a Hellcat, the defendant in a recently-filed Indiana trademark infringement lawsuit involving his Reloaded Merch brand, has posted an explosive video response on YouTube promising a full legal defense along with a $30 million counterclaim.
Presumably the Defendant has received counsel from attorneys, but you’d be hard pressed to figure out what he was told from his video comments. Starting off by accusing the Plaintiff of trying to steal his hard work, the Defendant then indicates that he intends to litigate and file a petition to cancel against the Plaintiff’s RELOADED trademark registration.
The Defendant claims to have evidence of garments created prior to the Plaintiff’s date of first use. If those garments were created under the Reloaded brand (he does not specify in the video) and sold in interstate commerce (again, not specified), that could be useful for proving priority. Actual court filings by the Defendant’s counsel may give us that information.
With no indication that the Defendant will relinquish his Reloaded Merch brand, I’d expect this litigation to be stayed pending the resolution of the TTAB cancellation proceeding, should that be filed today as mentioned in the video. We’ll post the relevant TTAB documents once filed. Stay tuned for updates.
Indiana Intellectual Property Blog 