Trademark Law Briefs

Guru Denim, Inc. v. Hayes, 2010 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 52992 (C.D. Cal. 2010)

Plaintiff filed suit against defendant for allegedly selling a counterfeit “hoodie” bearing plaintiff’s trademark.  Plaintiff failed to prosecute the case diligently- letting it linger for 16 months before seeking a default (which defendant overcame based on questions of appropriate service) and then, at the pretrial conference, complained for the first time of defendant’s failure to participate in discovery and sought a continuance.  The court issued an order to show cause why plaintiff should not be sanctioned.  Plaintiff then informed the court that plaintiff’s counsel had misplaced the allegedly infringing hoodie.  As sanctions, the court dismissed the case with prejudicie, awarded defendant costs as the prevailing party, and sanctioned plaintiff’s counsel for the expenses incurred by defendant in attending the pretrial conference and sanctions hearing (defendant could not be awarded attorneys fees because he appeared pro se).

Kirby Morgan Dive Systems v. Hydrospace Ltd. et al, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9657 (C.D. Cal., 2010)

Plaintiff entered into a distribution agreement with Defendant wherein defendant would promote, market, and sell Plaintiff’s products in the Brittish Isles and Defendant would not participate in the manufacturing of any competitive products.  The agreement included an arbitration clause governed by the American Arbitration Association and California law.  (more…)

In Jacobsen v. Katzer, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115204 (N.D. Cal. 2009).  The court granted summary judgment on a number of issues in favor of the plaintiff, including summary judgment on a cybersquatting claim.  Plaintiff created open source software to run model trains and alleged Defendant infringed plaintiff’s copyrights.  Plaintiff has a trademark for “DecoderPro” related to model trains.  Defendant registered the domain.  The court found defendant did so with the intent to profit.

In McConnell v. Idearc, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5505  (S.D. Cal. 2009), plaintiff raised copyright infringement claims against Idearc and several Verizon corporations regarding copyright infringement for graphics used in Idearc Yellowpages bearing Verizon’s trademark.  Idearc declared bankruptcy.  The Verizon companies received a motion to dismiss based on lack of personal jurisdiction.  Because the infringement by Idearc did not arise from the contract between the Idearc and Verizon, there was no specific jurisdiction.  Plaintiff also failed to allege sufficient facts to support general jurisdiction over the Verizon companies in California.

Adobe Systems Inc. v. Kern, 2009 US. Dist. LEXIS 123566 (N.D. Cal. 2009)

No real explanation needed here- Adobe alleged trademark infringment by a counterfeiter who did not appear and a default judgment was granted.

American Automobile Association v. HCM Brothers, Inc. d/b/a Cedar Inn & Suites et al.  2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79095 (E.D. Cal. 2009)

The American Automobile Association obtained a default judgment against a hotel that displayed its trademarks on its premises without authorization.  Plaintiff was granted $684.35 in costs and $11,098.50 in attorneys fees.