Seattle Trademark Lawyer

There’s a lot of money in basketballs.

On August 16, a Western District jury found Kabushiki Kaisha Molten and Molten USA, Inc., liable to its competitor, Baden Sports, Inc., for falsely advertising that its new cushioned basketball was “innovative.” It awarded Baden $8,054,579 in damages. STL discussion of the case here, here, and here.

On Sept. 25, Judge Marsha Pechman entered a permanent injunction enjoining Molten from advertising to United States consumers that its “dual cushion” basketballs are “innovative.” The injunction applies to advertising both within the United States and advertising outside of the United States that is directed to U.S. consumers.

Based on the jury’s separate finding that Molten had infringed Baden’s patent, the court also enjoined Molten from continuing to sell or offer to sell its “dual cushion” basketballs. The jury awarded Baden $38,031 on that claim.

The court nonetheless found that the case was not “exceptional” for purposes of awarding attorney’s fees or prejudgment interest under the Lanham Act.

The case cite is Baden Sports, Inc. v. Kabushiki Kaisha Molten, No. 06-210, 2007 WL 2790777 (W.D. Wash.).

The 43(B)log beat me to a new trademark case that’s worth checking out. On Sept. 26, the Ninth Circuit vacated the District of Arizona’s preliminary injunction enjoining defendant Tim Oey “from making any comments that could be construed as to disparage upon [the plaintiff Freecycle Network’s] possible trademark and logo” and requiring Mr. Oey to “remove all postings from the [I]nternet and any other public forums that he has previously made that disparage [The Freecycle Network’s] possible trademark and logo.”

Just as interesting as the opinion is the list of attorneys weighing in on Mr. Oey’s behalf. It includes Marty Schwimmer, Mark Lemley, Lawrence Lessig, “Amici 38 Intellectual Property Law Professors” and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. With firepower like this, you know the stakes were high. For a summary of the decision, check out Prof. Tushnet’s post.

The case cite is The Freecycle Network, Inc. v. Oey, __ F.3d __, 2007 WL 2781902, No. 06-16219 (9th Cir.).

On Sept. 25, Vancouver, Wash.-based furniture importer Bourne International, Inc., settled its trade dress and copyright infringement claims against Chet Stoler and his company, South Seas Trading Co. (Previous STL coverage discussing the Western District’s refusal to enter the parties’ stipulated protective order here.)

Bourne had alleged that Mr. Stoler, a former Bourne officer, director, and shareholder, had been responsible for the manufacturing, designing, importing, and marketing of Bourne’s furniture lines, including a line called THE LEAF COLLECTION. Bourne alleged that Mr. Stoler set up a competing importing business and sold items from THE LEAF COLLECTION to Bourne’s customers without Bourne’s authorization, infringing Bourne’s trade dress.

The parties’ Stipulation and Final Judgment describes THE LEAF COLLECTION’s trade dress as: “banana leaves, reticulate venaton on each banana leaf, each leaf has dark shading representing the venation and outline, the leaves are approximately uniform in size, the leaves are carved, a pattern of banana leaves at different angles to one another, and a dark, mahogany wood color.”

As part of the settlement, the parties agreed that “[u]nless Plaintiff receives injunctive relief enjoining Defendants’ confusing sale of items falling within Plaintiff’s copyright and trade dress for THE LEAF COLLECTION©™ in the sale, marketing, and advertising of imported furniture, Plaintiff will be irreparably injured.” The proposed order permanently enjoins defendants from deriving compensation from the sale or manufacture of furniture, or colorable imitations thereof, from Bourne’s furniture lines, including THE LEAF COLLECTION.

The parties also agreed to dismiss all of their claims and counterclaims against each other with prejudice, without fees or costs to any party.

The case cite is Bourne International, Inc. v. Stoler, No. 06-5680 (W.D. Wash.). 

The Western District today denied Cascade Financial Corp.’s and Cascade Bank’s motion for preliminary injunction against Issaquah Community Bank, Capital Bancorp, Ltd., and Robert Ittes. (STL coverage of this case here and here.) Plaintiffs had argued that defendants’ use of ISSAQUAH COMMUNITY BANK as a name and trademark infringes plaintiffs’ ISSAQUAH BANK trademark for competing banking services. Judge Thomas Zilly decided the motion without oral argument.

The court stated it will enter an opinion explaining the basis for its ruling at a later date.

The case cite is Cascade Financial Corp. v. Issaquah Community Bank, No. 07-1106 (W.D. Wash.).

A memorial will be held for Eastern District Judge Alan McDonald, who died in July at age 79. Judge McDonald was appointed by President Reagan in 1985. He had been on senior status for the past 11 years. The memorial is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Oct. 5 in the second floor courtroom of the William O. Douglas Courthouse in Yakima, Wash.