District of Massachusetts IP Blog

Boarding Helmet Designs Accused

Bern Unlimited, Inc. (Kingston, MA) has sued The Burton Corp. (Burlington, VT), Vans, Inc. (Cypress, CA), and Easton-Bell, Sports, Inc. (Van Nuys, CA) for infringement of design patent D572,865 related to an ornamental helmet.  Easton-Bell is also accused of infringement of design patent D572,880 related to a summer liner. 

         

D572,865                                            D572,880

Bern Unlimited, Inc. v. Vans, Inc., 11-12278-DJC (D. Mass. Dec. 20, 2011)

Bern Unlimited, Inc. v. The Burton Corp., 11-12280-JLT (D. Mass. Dec. 20, 2011)

Bern Unlimited, Inc. v. Easton-Bell, Sports, Inc., 11-12281-DPW (D. Mass. Dec. 20, 2011)

Euro-Pro Slices At CVS

Euro-Pro Operating LLC (Newton, MA) has sued CVS Caremark Corp. (Woonsocket, RI) and related CVS entities for patent, design patent, and trade dress infringement relating to products similar to Euro-Pro’s Ninja Master Prep blender.  Patent Nos. 7,677,485 and D623,890 are asserted.  CVS’ PROlectrix 2-in-1 Blender is accused. 

Euro-Pro Operating LLC v. CVS Caremark Corp., 11-12221-JCB (D. Mass. Dec. 14, 2011)

Clock Design Patent Warped

In September Kirch Industrial Co. (USA) Ltd. (Farmingdale, NY) sued Westminster, Inc. (Atlanta, GA) for infringement of Design Patent No. D621,725.  A couple of weeks later Kirch filed a new complaint adding a new defendant distributor, Arber Co. (Waltham, MA).  Westiminster’s “Time Warp Clock” is specifically accused. 

 

Kirch Industrial Co. (USA) Ltd. v. Westminster, Inc., 11-11696-WGY (D. Mass. Sep. 26, 2011)

Kirch Industrial Co. (USA) Ltd. v. Westminster, Inc., 11-11967-GAO (D. Mass. Nov. 7, 2011)

Sandal Soles Subject of Design Suit

Acushnet Co. (Fairhaven, MA) has sued RJ Sports USA (Pomona, CA) for infringement of Acushnet’s trade dress and Design Patent No. D466,272 for a sandal sole.  A picture being worth a thousand words:

Toe Sneaker Patents Enforced

Vibram S.p.A. and its U.S. subsidiary (Concord, MA) have sued Fila USA, Inc. (New York, NY) for infringement of Patent Nos. 7,805,860; D579,181; and D582,134 directed to footwear allowing “independent articulation of individual toes.”  You’ve probably seen them:

 

Vibram S.p.A. v. Fila USA, Inc., 11-11192-PBS (D. Mass. July 6, 2011)

Grab A Tissue; But Not From That Box

An individual residing in Illies, France has sued Vantiss Creations (Aliso Viejo, CA), its Dutch parent, and various affiliates for infringement of Design Patent Nos. D376,501, D378,330 for tissue box designs.  Defendants’ HANKEEZ, HANG YOUR HANKEEZ, and DOUBLE CUBE are specifically named.

So do you like these tissue box designs?

 

 

Violetta Spaseska v. Vantiss Creations, LLC, 10-11569-JCB (D. Mass. Sep. 15, 2010)

New DJ Case On Design Patent and Copyrights on Ball Cap Bills

This is a fun case.

 

As part of Coca-Cola’s 2008 rewards program it gave away (and featured on its website) caps that Sporting Innovations (the "other" SI) felt infringed its copyrights and rights in Design Patent No. D507,923, Fig. 1 below: 

SI sent a cease and desist letter to Coke and its vendor (owned by Staples) alleging infringement and copying by the vendor.  During the subsequent correspondence Coke said it had stopped distributing the caps and SI maintained that the infringement was willful.

The parties couldn’t come to an agreement so Staples and Coke filed a declaratory judgment action asserting non-infringement and invalidity of the design patent, non-infringement of SI’s copyrights and, just to mix things up a bit, false marking by SI based on its own caps.

The case is pending before Judge Woodlock.

Staples Commercial & Contract, Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. v. Sporting Innovations, LLC, 09-cv-12009-DPW (D. Mass. Nov. 24, 2009)