District of Massachusetts IP Blog

True Fight Over True Fit

True Fit Corp. (Woburn, MA) has sued True & Co. (San Francisco, CA) for trademark infringement related to the use of the word TRUE for “personal matching services for apparel”.  Plaintiff owns a registration for FIND YOUR TRUE FIT and has applications for a number of other marks such as SHOP TRUE TO YOU, TRUE TO YOU, TRUE FIT, etc.  Defendant uses the mark TRUE (and has applied for registration of same) for personalized matching services for bras and related products.

True Fit Corp. v. True & Co., 12-11006-GAO (D. Mass. June 6, 2012)

Not The Original Platter

Herb Reed Enterprises (Arlington, MA) has sued Cape Entertainment, Inc. (Coconut Creek, FL) and its owner for trademark infringement relating to use of HERB REED AND THE PLATTERS. The plaintiff alleges ownership of the rights to the mark dating back to the founding of the original musical group in the 1950s. Defendants are accused of promoting a different band under the same name (as the plaintiff discovered when a dissatisfied customer reported the defendants’ activities).

Herb Reed Enterprises LLC v. Cape Entertainment, Inc., 12-11004-MBB (D. Mass. June 6, 2012)

New BitTorrent Case Filed

A bunch of California adult film production companies have sued a number of anonymous defendants by their IP addresses for copyright infringement stemming from purported unauthorized BitTorrent downloads of pornographic films.  These cases are gaining in popularity in this district after being widely tried in other districts across the country.  All the cases below have the same plaintiff’s counsel.

Prosthetic Limb Manufacturer Sued

iWalk (Bedford, MA) and MIT have sued Össuer HF (Reykjavik, Iceland) and its U.S. affiliate for infringement of Patent No. 5,650,704 directed to an elastic actuator.  Össuer’s prosthetic knee (called the POWER KNEE) is specifically accused.

iWalk, Inc. v. Össuer HF, 12-10796-NMG (D. Mass. May 3, 2012)

Patents Asserted Against Chinese Plasma Cutting Systems

Hypertherm, Inc. (Hanover, NH) has sued Shenzen River Trading Co., Ltd. (Guangzhou, China) for infringement of Patent Nos. 8,115,136, 7,989,727 and 6,207,923 directed to plasma cutting systems.

Hypertherm, Inc. v. Shenzen River Trading Co., Ltd., 12-10798-GAO (D. Mass. May 3, 2012)

Health Information Name Spat Hits the Courts

American HealthTech, Inc. (Ridgeland, MS) has sued individuals in Massachusetts and New Hampshire for infringement of the trademark AMERICAN HEALTHTECH for computer programs.  Defendants operate an information technology business using the <healthtechlink.com> domain and the mark HealthTech. 

American HealthTech, Inc. v. Gurganious, 12-10716-RWZ (D. Mass. Apr. 23, 2012)

MetroWest Computer Store Suffers Microsoft’s Wrath

Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, WA) has sued PCExchange.net, Inc. (Framingham, MA) and its owner for copyright and trademark infringement.  The complaint alleges that the defendants have sold and installed unauthorized copies of Microsoft’s software. 

Microsoft Corp. v. PCExchange.net, Inc., 12-10685-RWZ (Apr. 18, 2012)

Excellence of Phone Cards Disputed

Nobelcom, LLC (Carlsbad, CA) has sued Millenium Tele Card, LLC (Clifton, NJ) for trademark infringement.  Plaintiff sells prepaid phone cards using the mark XCELENTE.  Defendant sells phone cards with the mark EXCELLENT. 

Nobelcom, LLC v. Millenium Tele Card, LLC, 12-10688-NMG (D. Mass. Apr. 18, 2012)

Toy Ripoffs Lead to Suit

An individual sculptor and inventor residing in New York City has sued Quill Corp. (Spartanburg, SC) for copyright, trademark, and trade dress infringement stemming from defendants alleged sales of counterfeit versions of plaintiff’s FLIGHT RING toy. 

Hoberman v. Quill Corp., 12-10672-RWZ (D. Mass. Apr. 13, 2012)

Former Environmental Executive Sued

BGI, Inc. (Waltham, MA) sued its former president for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, and other counts related to the president’s alleged taking BGI’s secrets to his own company. 

BGI, Inc. v. Merrifield, 12-10658-RWZ (D. Mass. Apr. 12, 2012)