District of Massachusetts IP Blog

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)

Raid of Boutique Leads to Civil Lawsuit

Coach, Inc.  (New York, NY) has sued a Bridgewater tanning boutique and its owners for infringement of the COACH trademarks, trade dress, and copyrights.  The complaint alleges that the boutique displayed and sold counterfeit Coach merchandise.  Evidence gathered during a police raid of the boutique was cited in the complaint.  Glad I wasn’t getting my hair done that day. 

Coach, Inc. v. Milliken, 12-10455-JLT (D. Mass. Mar. 12, 2012)

Immitation Is The Sincerest Form of…BRAINS!

Wimpy Kid, Inc. (Plainville, MA) has sued Antarctic Press, Inc. (San Antonio, TX) for trademark infringement and related claims.  Plaintiff publishes the widely successful Diary of A Wimpy Kid series.  Defendant published a book, Diary of A Zombie Kid, with a book cover design closely mirroring the plaintiff’s series: 

While one can certainly acknowledge the similarities, this statement from the complaint seems like an overstatement:  

Defendant’s infringing works are substantially similar to those of Plaintiff’s series and are obviously intended to confuse the public into believing that Defendant’s books are additions to such series.

I'm not sure anyone is going to think these are part of the same series.  Unless the Wimpy Kid books involve more brain eating than I am aware of. 

Wimpy Kid, Inc. v. Antarctic Press, Inc., 11-12265-RGS (D. Mass. Dec. 20, 2011)

Stylus Bought, Copied, And Sued

Genesis Strategies, Inc. (Northborough, MA) has sued Pitney Bowes, Inc. (Stanford, CT) for trade dress infringement and related claims stemming from a similar stylus holder design sold by both companies.  The complaint alleges that Pitney Bowes bought thousands of the stylus holders from the plaintiff with a statement that more orders were coming.  More orders never came, and plaintiff discovered that Pitney Bowes had simply farmed out the stylus design to an overseas manufacturer/importer who purportedly admitted copying the design.  Left without patent protection for its product, the plaintiff resorts to trade dress claims, which are pretty thin given the product configuration nature of the asserted design and some skepticism regarding the design’s indication of source. 

Genesis Strategies, Inc. v. Pitney Bowes, Inc., 11-12270-TSH (D. Mass. Dec. 20, 2011)

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)

Luggage Manufacturer Draws The Line

Rimowa GMBH (Cologne, Germany) has sued Zero Halliburton, Inc. (Piscataway, NJ) for trademark and trade dress infringement over Zero Halliburton’s use of a horizontal line pattern on luggage that Rimowa claims infringes on its own registered design. 

Rimowa GMBH v. Zero Halliburton, Inc., 11-11643-DPW (D. Mass. Sep. 16, 2011)

Individual Sues Cracker Barrel for the Cycle

An individual residing in New York, NY has sued Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (Lebanon, TN) for copyright, trademark, trade dress, and patent infringement related to knock-off versions of his BRAIN TWIST puzzle sold at Cracker Barrel stores.  An example: 

      

Authentic Brain Twist Puzzle                               Knock-Off Brain Twist Puzzle 

Hoberman v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., 11-11539-WGY (D. Mass. Sep. 1, 2011)

No 93A Liability for CAD Knockoff

Following a jury trial, Real View LLC and its founders were found not liable for copyright infringement, trade dress infringement, or interference with contract for their creation of computer-aided kitchen design software that deliberately mimicked the design of a similar program of 20-20 Technologies.  Real View was, however, found liable for copyright infringement for downloading an illegal copy of 20-20's program and was hit for over $1M in damages. 

Following trial, Judge Saris took up the question of whether Real View’s other activities (improperly accessing 20-20’s tutorial videos, copying 20-20’s marketing scheme, etc.) violated 93A.   

Mammogram Cushions Causing Discomfort

Hologic, Inc. (Bedford, MA) has sued IZI Medical Products (Owing Mills, MD) for infringement of Patent Nos. 6,577,702, 6,765,984, and 7,502,441 related to cushion compressing surfaces as well as infringement of Hologic’s trade dress in its MammoPad radiolucent breast cushion for use during mammograms. 

Both companies sell cushions designed to improve patient comfort during mammograms.  Hologic asserts that IZI’s pads not only infringe Hologic’s patents, but also Hologic’s trade dress (basically, use of the color pink on the cushion). 

Hologic, Inc. v. IZI Medical Products, LLC., 11-10619-WGY (D. Mass. Apr. 11, 2011)