Los Angeles Intellectual Property Trademark Attorney Blog
Los Angeles, CA – Denimxworks, Inc. filed a trademark infringement, Lanham Act unfair competition, fraud, and breach of contract complaint against Laguna Beach Company and its owner, Steve Kim. Plaintiff alleges that it registered its Habitual plus cross design mark in August of 2007 and registered a cross design with the letter “H” used on jeans’ pockets in February of 2006. Although the marks have been registered for less than five years, Plaintiff incorrectly contends that the marks are incontestable under 15 USC § 1065. Plaintiff also asserts a cause of action for trademark dilution despite only spending $1 Million on advertising over the last seven years. It would be very difficult for Plaintiff to meet the requirements of the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006, which limits dilution causes of action to nationally famous marks.
Plaintiff alleges that in 2008, it discovered Defendants were selling clothing bearing infringing trademarks. Plaintiff contacted the Defendants and asked that they cease use of the marks. In May of 2008, in order to avoid litigation, Defendants allegedly agreed in writing to cease use of the mark and Defendant Kim signed a declaration representing that all inventory bearing the marks had been destroyed. Plaintiff contends, however, that Defendants were allegedly exhibiting jeans bearing the infringing trademark at the Project Jean Show in Las Vegas only two months after the date of the declaration. Plaintiff further alleges that Defendants are secretively selling infringing product. The case is Denimxworks, Inc. v. J.L.J, Inc. et al., CV09-07207 SJO (C.D. Cal. 2009).