U. Mass. (Boston, MA) has brought suit against Universal Sequence, Inc. (Boston, MA) for unauthorized use of U. Mass.’ trademark MEMORYXL for use with dietary supplements.
In the mid-2000s a U. Mass. research team developed a dietary supplement formula for improving cognitive function. The formula was patented and referred to as “MemoryXL” for which U. Mass. obtained a federal trademark registration. U. Mass. then licensed the mark to defendant USI for commercial exploitation of the formula, though the license stated that any goodwill developed by using the mark inured to the benefit of U. Mass. USI registered the domain name <memxl.com> and proceeded to use both MemXL and MemoryXL as marks to sell the dietary supplement.
Several months into the relationship U. Mass. terminated the license due to non-payment. USI then registered a new domain name <mymxl.com> and continued to sell products under the MemoryXL mark. This complaint followed.
Because the complaint was filed on behalf of U. Mass., a public institution established as the Massachusetts state university under M.G.L. ch. 75, the lead counsel (Carl DeFranco from Lahive & Cockfield) signed the complaint as “Special Assistant Attorney General” underneath the name of Martha Coakley, Attorney General.
Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts v. Universal Sequence, Inc. 10-10615-GAO (Apr. 13, 2010)
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