Cointreau Corporation Files Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Against Pura Vida Tequila Company

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Steven Callahan

On July 12, 2012, Cointreau Corporation sued Pura Vida Tequila Company in the Northern District of Texas (complaint available here).  Cointreau asserts that it owns various COINTREAU trademarks and that Pura Vida Tequila Company, “[i]n a blatant attempt to trade off the hard-earned goodwill and reputation of the COINTREAU Marks, [] imported into California and Texas an orange liqueur in a squat, square shaped bottle with the mark CONTROY depicted within a banner.”

Based on this conduct, Cointreau asserts causes of action for, among other things, trademark infringement, dilution, false designations of origin, common law trademark infringement and unfair competition under Texas law.

The case has been assigned to Judge Godbey.

Cointreau Corporation is represented by Megan Dredla and Stephen Gleboff, both of Gleboff Law Group PLLC; and Bruce Londa, Jeanne Hamburg, Mitchell Mandell, and Danielle DeFilippis, all of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A.

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Polyguard Products Sues Henry Company for a Declaratory Judgment of No Trademark Infringement

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Steven Callahan

On July 13, 2012, Polyguard Products filed a lawsuit (available here) in the Northern District of Texas alleging that Henry Company has improperly claimed that Polyguard is infringing Henry’s trademark rights.  Polyguard claims it owns trademarks to AIRLOK and AIRLOK FLEX, and that Henry Company sells products under the mark AIR-BLOC, which has recently obtained a trademark registration number.

Polyguard filed the lawsuit after receiving a letter from Henry Company asserting that Polyguard’s use of its AIRLOK mark is likely to cause confusion with Henry Company’s AIR-BLOC mark.  Polyguard seeks, among other things, a declaratory judgment of non-infringement of trademarks.

Judge Godbey has been assigned the case.

Polyguard is represented by Jack Kanz, of the Law Office of Jack A. Kanz; and John Cone and Megan M O’Laughlin, both of Hitchcock Evert LLP.

Henry Company has been represented by Jordan LaVine of Flaster Greenberg.

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Nexstar Sues Time Warner Cable for Copyright Infringement in the Northern District of Texas

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Steven Callahan

On July 16, 2012, Nexstar filed a lawsuit (complaint available here) in the Northern District of Texas, accusing Time Warner Cable of, among other things, committing copyright infringement.  Specifically, Nexstar claims, among other things, that Time Warner Cable is misappropriating the signals of several television broadcast stations owned by Nextar.

Judge Solis has been assigned the case.

Nexstar is represented by Mark Johansen, Christopher Simmons, and Michael Lang, all of Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail Shank LLP; and Owen Glist, David Scupp, and Matthew Cantor, all of Constantine Cannon LLP.

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Papa Berg Brings the SmackDown Against World Wrestling Entertainment in the Northern District of Texas

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Steven Callahan

On July 17, 2012, Papa Berg, Inc. filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas against Defendants World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., Stephanie Music Publishing, Inc., Michael Seitz a/k/a Michael Hayes, and James Alan Johnston.

Papa Berg, according to the complaint (available here), “writes influential professional wrestling-related music,” including songs used as “entrance” music for wrestling stars.  Papa Berg claims that defendants had improperly registered his music to divert royalties to themselves.  The lawsuit seeks, among other things, a declaratory judgment regarding copyright infringement, and further asserts claims for unfair competition, tortious interference with existing and potential business relations, civil conspiracy, and money had and received.

Judge Boyle has been assigned the case.

Papa Berg is represented by Mark Taylor and Peyton Healey, both of Powers Taylor LLP.

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HomeVestors Sues House Buyer Network for Trademark Infringement in the Northern District of Texas

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Steven Callahan

On June 14, 2012, HomeVestors of America, Inc. filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas accusing Duane LeGate and House Buyer Network, Inc. of committing trademark infringement, unfair competition, unjust enrichment, injury to business reputation, and breach of contract under Texas law.  HomeVestors, according to the Complaint (available here), “is known as the WE BUY UGLY HOUSES® people and is the number one buyer of houses in the United States.”

HomeVestors asserts, among other things, that defendant LeGate entered into a settlement agreement with HomeVestors in 2006 “whereby LeGate transferred a number of domain names to Plaintiff and whereby LeGate agreed to stop purchasing keywords incorporating the HomeVestors” trademarks.  HomeVestors claims that defendants continued to purchase internet advertising keywords containing HomeVestors registered trademarks to advertise defendants’ own products and services and gain search-engine popularity.

In the lawsuit, HomeVestors seeks (1) actual, treble, and exemplary damages from defendants; (2) a preliminary injunction, and after trial, a permanent injunction; and (3) HomeVestors’ attorneys’ fees and costs of court.

Judge Solis has been assigned the case.

HomeVestors is represented by Darin Klemchuk, James Davis, and Kelsey Johnson, all of Klemchuk Kubasta LLP.

Defendants are represented by Jason Bloom and David Harper, both of Haynes & Boone LLP.

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Aloha RIM – Rim Successfully Obtains Transfer to Northern District of Texas from Hawaii

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Steven Callahan

In July 2011, RIM and a number of other defendants were sued by GPNE Corp. (a company with its principal place of business in Hawaii) for patent infringement in the District of Hawaii.  RIM’s United States headquarters is in Irving, Texas, within the Northern District of Texas.  RIM accordingly filed a motion to sever and to transfer venue to the Northern District of Texas.  In March 2011, a magistrate judge in the District of Hawaii ruled in favor of RIM (decision available here), finding that it was improperly joined with the other defendants and that GPNE’s claims against it should be severed and transferred to the Northern District of Texas.

Defendants Apple and Barnes & Noble similarly were severed and transferred, but to the Northern District of California.  The magistrate judge, sua sponte, severed the other remaining defendants, leaving five cases (against Amazon, Nokia, Pantech, Sharp, and Sony Ericsson) pending in Hawaii.

The district court judge in Hawaii, in May 2011, affirmed the magistrate judge’s order (decision available here).

Judge Kinkeade is handling the case in the Northern District of Texas.

GPNE is represented by Kenneth Mansfield, Jordon Kimura, Robert Klein, and Shaun Mukai, all of McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP; Alexandra Capachietti, Howard Susser, Merton Thompson, Paul Muniz, Stephen Chow, and Zachary Gates, all of Burns & Levinson LLP; and Barry Bumgardner and Steven Hartsell, both of Nelson Bumgardner Casto PC.

RIM is represented by Christian Adams, Michael Purpura, and Michael Scanlon, all of Carlsmith Ball LLP; Andrew Grossman, David Smith, Lindsay Manning, Mark Matuschak, Meng Xi, Michael Jay, Timothy Yoo, and Wendy Verlander, all of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP; and Leon Carter, of Carter Stafford Arnett Hamada & Mockler PLLC.

Nokia is represented by Alexas Skucas, Erik Dykema, and Steven Snyder, all of King & Spalding; and Paul Alston of Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing.

Pantech is represented by Alan Wright and Wayne Helge, both of H.C. Park & Associates PLC; and Patrick Shea, of Shea & Kamiya LLLC.

Sharp is represented by David Sipiora, Kenneth Chang, and Matthew Holohan, all of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockon LLP; and Gary Grimmer, of Gary G. Grimmer & Associates.

Sony Ericsson is represented by, among others, Benjamin Setnick, James Mahon, John McDowell, Jr., and Scott Bloebaum, all of Andrews Kurth LLP.

Barnes & Noble is represented by, among others, Jennifer Hayes, Robert Krebs, and Ronald Lopez, all of Nixon Peabody LLP.

Apple is represented by Aamir Kazi, Christopher Green, Erin Kaiser, Kelly Hunsaker, and Ruffin Cordell, all of Fish & Richardson PC; and Louise Ing and Malia Kakos, both of Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing.

Amazon is represented by Andrew Lautenbach and Sharon Lovejoy, both of Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher; and Andrew Mason, Jeffrey Love, and Robert Cruzen, all of Klarquist Sparkman, LLP.

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Judge Cummings Rejects Second Amendment Challenges

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Steven Callahan

Nearly two years ago, our very first post covered a Second Amendment challenge to the federal law banning the sale of handguns by federally licensed dealers to 18-20 year olds.  Judge Cummings has ruled in that case, as well as a companion case challenging Texas’ laws that ban individuals under 21 (excluding those who served or are serving in the military) from carrying concealed handguns, in the governments’ favor.

Specifically, Judge Cummings held in Jennings v. BATFE (decision available here)  that (i) Federal statutes and regulations that ban the sale by federal firearm license holders of handguns and handgun ammunition to persons under the age of twenty-one do not violate the Second Amendment, as it is within Congress’ power to determine “the age of the customer to whom those licensed by the federal government may sell handguns and handgun ammunition”; and (ii) the Equal Protection Clause does not bar Congress from setting such age limits.

In Jennings v. McCraw, Judge Cummings held (decision available here) that Texas statutes prohibiting persons under the age of 21 (who have not served or are not serving currently in the military) from carrying a handgun outside the home similarly did not violate the Second Amendment or the Equal Protection Clause.

The cases are now on appeal to the Fifth Circuit.

Plaintiffs are represented by Charles Cooper, David Thompson, and Peter Patterson, all of Cooper and Kirk PLLC; Brian Koukoutchos, of the Law Office of Brian S. Koukoutchos; and Fernando Bustos, of the Law Offices of Fernando M. Bustos, P.C.

BATFE is represented by Daniel Riess and Jessica Leinwand, both of the United States Department of Justice.

McCraw is represented by Drew Harris and Jonathan Mitchell, both of the Office of the Texas Attorney General.

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When In Rome’s Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Against When In Rome UK Removed to the Northern District of Texas

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Steven Callahan

On July 3, 2012, Michael Nuttal d/b/a When in Rome’s trademark infringement lawsuit (available here) was removed to the Northern District of Texas.  Nuttal has a band known as “When in Rome” and he claims that Defendants are improperly using “When In Rome” as the name for their band.  Nuttal asserts a number of causes of action including unfair competition and false representations in commerce.

Judge Lynn is handling the case.

Nuttal is represented by Wendy B. Mills, of the The Law Office of Wendy B. Mill.

Defendants are represented by Elizann Carroll and Molly Richard, both of Richard Law Group.

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Future World Electronics Files Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Over Drive Marketing In the Northern District of Texas

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Steven Callahan

On July 3, 2012, Future World Electronics filed suit against Over Drive Marketing, JS Direct Marketing, and The Auto Park, Inc. in the Northern District of Texas (complaint available here).  Over Drive Marketing claims that Defendants copied its advertising materials titled “Seize the Opportunity – Template – Version 1” to create infringing work.

Judge Boyle is assigned the case.

Future World Electronics is represented by Charles Penot, Jr. and Lori Hayward, both of Middleberg Riddle & Gianna; and Raymond Areaux, Theodore Owers III, and J. Matthew Miller III, all of Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux, LLC.

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Radisson Hotels Sues Former Franchisee In the Northern District of Texas

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Steven Callahan

On July 5, 2012, Radisson Hotels International filed a lawsuit (available here) against Eshnam Hospitality, Inc. in the Northern District of Texas asserting causes of action for, among other things, breach of contract, trademark infringement, false designation or origin/unfair competition, and trademark dilution. Eshnam was a former franchisee of Radisson.  Radisson claims that Eshnam operated a Radisson hotel from 2007 until March 30, 2012 when Radisson terminated its license agreement with Eshnam.  But, according to Radisson, Eshnam has improperly continued to use Radisson’s trademarks after Eshnam failed to comply with its obligations under the license agreement.

Judge Lindsay has been assigned the case.

Radison is represented by Gregory Sudbury and Marcie Schout, both of Quilling, Selander, Lownds, Winslett & Moser, PC; and Andrew Brantingham and Edward Magarian, both of Dorsey & Whitney LLP.

Eshnam Hospitality is represented by Rupert Barron, of Hirsch & Westheimer, P.C.

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