Santa Ana, CA – Budget Blinds, Inc. (“BBI”) sued Kenneth James, owner of Budget Blinds and Shutters, for trademark infringement and unfair competition under the Lanham Act § 43(a). BBI franchises mobile window covering business in the U.S. and Canada and currently has almost 900 franchised businesses operating under the…
Santa Ana, CA – El Pollo Loco, Inc. (“EPL”) sued Jacinto & Corona Enterprises, Inc. for trademark infringement, dilution and unfair competition under the Lanham Act § 43(a). EPL operates and franchises restaurants, specializing in pretty tasty grilled chicken, in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado and Illinois. With locations in…
Los Angeles, CA – Plaintiffs Twentieth Television, Inc. and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation sued Roberts Brother Properties, LLC and several related “Roberts” companies, which operate the following television stations: WAZE-TV, WRBU, WZRB, and WRBJ. The stations broadcast, under license from the FCC, television programs in Evansville, Indiana; Jackson, Mississippi;…
Los Angeles, CA – Masterfile Corporation, a stock photography company, is suing KGM Productions, a website design and marketing company, for copyright infringement and removal of copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. § 1202(b). Masterfile alleges that it discovered Defendant was using eight of Plaintiff’s copyrighted photographs on Defendants websites…
Los Angeles, CA – Mobile Hi-Tech Wheels, Inc. (“MHT”) has been manufacturing custom wheels for automobiles since 1986, which wheels are sold to automobile dealers and after-market parts retailers. MHT was issued U.S. Patent No. D578,459 for its “Illusion” wheel design and U.S. Patent No. D585,808 for its “Bomber” wheel…
CNN Money has an interesting article (link here) regarding several companies’ attempts to invigorate their image by using new logos. Some have succeeded (e.g. Apple) and some, well, not so much (e.g. Xerox). Although re-branding is a bit of a gamble with consumers, having a strong word mark as a…
Los Angeles, CA – Oscar® winner Dustin sued starzlife.com (details blogged here) and several individuals for copyright infringement and invasion of privacy over distribution of his sexually intimate photos and video. The Court issued a temporary restraining order against the distribution of the photos and the video. And now, after…
Los Angeles, CA – OPI Products sued Beauty Treats International Co. for trademark and trade dress infringement and unfair competition over its sale of nail care products. Plaintiff has registered its OPI word mark and its bottle design mark with the USPTO. Plaintiff alleges that it began using the word…
UPDATE August 4, 2009: The Court entered a temporary restraining order (copy available here) preventing exhibition or distribution of the photos and video until the preliminary injunction hearing on August 10, 2009. Los Angeles, CA – In a complaint that reads like a tabloid article (available here), Dustin Lance Black…
Los Angeles, CA – Product Partners, LLC sued Costco Wholesale Corporation for copyright and trademark infringement and Lanham Act § 43(a) unfair competition over sales of fitness and weight loss products. Plaintiff sells a P90X® home exercise kit that includes workout routine DVDs featuring a technique called muscle confusion, “which…