Recent Trademark Infringement Victory Featured in Law360
Los Angeles partner Daniel DeCarlo and associate Daniel Lewis were recently featured in a Law360 article entitled, “Furniture Co. Loses TM Row Due to Separate Markets.” The article focuses on a recent victory for the firm’s client in the case of Stone Creek Inc. v. Omnia Italian Design Inc. et al. A Phoenix based furniture retailer, Stone Creek Inc. (“Stone Creek”), sued the firm’s client, leather manufacturer, Omnia Italian Design, Inc. (“Omnia”), for trademark infringement and unfair competition. Omnia sold to a third party furniture store, Bon Ton, the same furniture that our client had sold to the plaintiff Stone Creek and used the same trademark (“Stone Creek”) on the Bon Ton furniture. The Bon Ton furniture was then sold and distributed in an area remote from the primary market where the plaintiff sold its trademarked goods. The third party, Bon Ton, serves a large area of the Midwest. The firm was successful in defending the client based on evidence, which supported the notion that the buyers in the Bon Ton trading territory were not familiar with the plaintiff’s brand and reputation because the plaintiff’s reputation had not traveled to the Bon Ton trading area. Mr. DeCarlo is quoted in the article stating, “simply did not have any market penetration into the area where all the accused products were sold.”
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