South Bend, Indiana – Patent lawyers for NIBCO, Inc., of Elkhart, IN, have filed a patent infringement suit alleging ERICO International Corporation of Solon, OH, has infringed the following patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office: Patent Nos. 6,517,030,. 6,953,174, 7,191,987, and. 7,441,730. All four patents have the same title, SWAY BRACE FITTING, which is a device for “bracing pipes and other loads, suspended below ceilings and beams, against sway and seismic disturbances.”

NIBCO.jpgThe plaintiff is a manufacturer of support system products. Citing photographs and an advertisement, the complaint states that the defendant is making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing sway brace products which infringe these patents. As is usually the case in intellectual property litigation, the plaintiff seeks both damages and injunctive relief.
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Lafayette, IN – Trademark lawyers for Coach, Inc. of New York, NY, and Coach Services, Inc. of Jacksonville, FL filed a trademark infringement suit alleging Diggz Clothing, LLC and Lori Harth of Lafayette, IN infringed various Coach trademark registrations which are registered with the US Trademark Office. Coach had sued Diggz in March 2010, then settled the suit for $6,500, and an agreement to stop selling “Accused Products.” However, the latest suit alleges that Diggz breached the settlement agreement, and re-asserts a variety of trademark, copyright, trade dress and unfair competition related claims.

Coach files many infringement suits, and a list of their earlier suits in Indiana in 2010 is at the end of this posting.
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This is the time of year that Indiana technology companies should ensure they have documentation confirming their R&D expenses.

The tax bill presently under consideration will retroactively grant the Federal Tax credit for 2010 if it passes. The Federal credit is described here: http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/09/how-to-take-advantage-of-the-research-and-development-credit.html. The Indiana R&D Tax credit is described here Continue reading

 

Indianapolis, Indiana – Trademark infringement litigation attorneys for Travellers’ Joy, Inc. of Wilmingon, Delaware has filed an infringement suit against Haycco, LLC of California in the Southern District of Indiana.

The complaint alleges infringement of US registration nos. 3,560,502 and 3,718,357, which are for stylized logos of the word TRAVELLER’S JOY for gift registration services. The plaintiff operates the website www.travelersjoy.com and defendant runs http://joyhoneymoon.com. The complaint also alleges trademark dilution and unfair competition.

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 Indianapolis, Indiana – In a case which was transferred from federal court in Connecticut, patent lawyers for GS Cleantech Corporation of New York City have filed a lawsuit alleging Flottweg Separation Technologies, Inc. of Norwalk, CT, and Flottweg AG of Germany are infringing Patent No. 7,601,858, titled METHOD OF PROCESSING ETHANOL BYPRODUCTS AND RELATED SUBSYSTEMS and issued by the U.S. Patent Office.

The complaint notes that a separate lawsuit, filed by ICM, Inc., is pending in federal court in Kansas. The plaintiff in that case requests a declaratory judgment of non-infringement and invalidity of the ‘858 patent.
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The US Trademark Office issued the following 182 trademark registrations to persons and businesses in Indiana in November, 2010, based on applications filed by Indiana Trademark Attorneys:

Reg. Number Mark Check Status
1 3,875,185 STACKABLES View
2 3,880,041 ZENITH FLEX View
3 3,879,893 DEPENDABILL View
4 3,879,847 OUR SERVICE WILL FLOOR YOU View
5 3,879,722 CELESTHEALTH View
6 3,879,721 JSI View

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Hammond, Indiana – Copyright lawyers for BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) of New York City and various musical copyright holders such as Universal and EMI Virgin Songs have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Shenanigans pub in Portage, IN. The complaint alleges that the defendant and its chief officer caused, publicly displayed at least ten musical compositions protected by copyrights registered in the U.S. Copyright Office without obtaining a copyright license.

This case has been assigned to Judge Theresa Springmann and Magistrate Judge Andrew Rodovich in the Northern District of Indiana, and assigned case no. 2:10-cv-00458-TLS-APR.

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 A patent infringement suit filed in Illinois by MedIdea LLC against Zimmer, Inc. of Warsaw, Indiana has been transferred to the Northern District of Indiana. The suit alleges infringement of the following patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office: 6,200,350 and 6,383,225, which relate to Hips, and Nos. 6,267,785, 6,379,391, 6,398,812, 6,821,300, and 7,229,478 which relate to shoulders.

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Indianapolis, Indiana – Patent lawyers for Draper, Inc. of Spiceland, IN, have filed a declaratory judgment lawsuit against MechoShade Systems, Inc., and Joel Berman Associates, Inc., both of Long Island City, NY. In particular, the suit seeks a ruling that Patent No. 6,164,428, titled Wrap Spring Shade Operator (“the ‘428 patent”) and issued by the U.S. Patent Office, as well as certain of the defendants’ trade dress, are invalid and not infringed.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff Draper sells window shades. The defendant Mr. Berman alleged that Draper’s brackets for mounting window shades infring the ‘428 patent and the defendants’ trade dress. The plaintiff, in turn, alleges that the ‘428 patent is invalid for failing to meet the requirements for patentability in Sections, 102, 103, and 112 of the Patent Act and that the appearance of defendants’ brackets is functional, generic, and not capable of protection as trade dress.

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