Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
Indianapolis, IN – A trademark infringement case that was originally filed in Hamilton County Superior Court has been removed to the Southern District of Indiana. On September 14, 2011 trademark lawyers for Saeilo Enterprises, Inc. Pearl River, New York filed a trademark infringement suit in Hamilton County alleging Jacobson Hat Company, Inc. of Scranton, Pennsylvania infringed trademark registration no.2,885,628 for the words TOMMY GUN registered with the US Trademark Office and 20090707-13956, 20090707-13957 and 20090707-13958 for TOMMY GUN
design registered trademarks in the State of Indiana State. Trademark attorneys for Jacobson filed notice of removal to have the case heard by the federal Southern District of Indiana, rather than the Hamilton County court, based upon the fact that Saeilo makes federal law trademark infringement claims.
The complaint alleges that Jacobson has distributed, advertised or sold toy guns bearing the Tommy Gun trademarks without Saeilo’s authorization. The complaint does not reveal any details of the allegedly infringing sales, advertising or distribution. However, a print-out of Jacobson’s website, dated October 2009 was attached to the complaint. The complaint makes claims of trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false designation of origin, false advertising, trade dress infringement, common law trademark infringement, unfair competition, counterfeiting, and Indiana state law trademark infringement.
Practice Tip: This is the third trademark infringement case in the past several months that Saeilo filed in Hamilton County court, only to be removed to federal court. In all three cases, Continental Enterprises, which is an Indianapolis corporation that claims to “non-traditional strategies to combat infringers domestically and around the globe and provide effective solutions for seemingly intractable IP problems,” has represented Saeilo. Indiana Intellectual Property Law and News has blogged about the two other cases: one was against BuzzBee Toys and the other was against Scottwerx. According to PACER, trademark attorneys have reached a settlement in the Buzz Bee case. The terms of the settlement are undisclosed. The Scottwerx case is still pending.
This case has been assigned to Judge Jane E. Magnus-Stinson and Magistrate Judge Debra McVicker Lynch in the Southern District of Indiana, and assigned Case No. 1:11-cv-01383-JMS-DMLComplaint
Further Information about the case is as follows:
Filed: October 14, 2011 as 1:2011cv01383 Updated: October 18, 2011 06:04:28
Plaintiff: SAEILO ENTERPRISES, INC.Defendant: JACOBSON HAT COMPANY, INC.Presiding Judge: Jane Magnus-StinsonReferring Judge: Debra McVicker LynchCause Of Action: Trademark InfringementCourt: Seventh Circuit > Indiana > Southern District Court Type: Intellectual Property > Trademark