Biomax Health Products LLC v. Perfectx USA

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJune 27, 2023
Docket3:23-cv-02834
StatusUnknown

This text of Biomax Health Products LLC v. Perfectx USA (Biomax Health Products LLC v. Perfectx USA) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Biomax Health Products LLC v. Perfectx USA, (N.D. Cal. 2023).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 BIOMAX HEALTH PRODUCTS LLC, Case No. 23-cv-02834-SI

8 Plaintiff, TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER 9 v. Re: Dkt. No. 12 10 PERFECTX USA,

11 Defendant.

13 Before the Court is plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order. Dkt. No. 12. For 14 the reasons discussed below, the motion is GRANTED. 15

16 BACKGROUND 17 Plaintiff alleges as follows. Plaintiff Biomax Health Products LLC markets and sells topical 18 joint and muscle therapy cream under the PENETREX mark. Complaint, Dkt. No. 1, at ⁋ 21. 19 Plaintiff has registered the PENETREX word mark. Id. ⁋⁋ 26–29. Since May 2022, Plaintiff has 20 marketed its products with what it calls the PENETREX Design Mark, which consists of a thick line 21 with color bands of varying thickness in dark red, dark blue, gray, blush, dark red, gray, and dark 22 blue. Id. ⁋⁋ 33–36. Plaintiff’s most popular product is its PENETREX Intensive Concentrate 23 Cream. Id. ⁋⁋ 37–39. The Intensive Concentrate Cream is sold in a white, cylindrical jar with 24 rounded edges. Id. ⁋ 38. The label consists of a white background and, from top to bottom, the color 25 band, “Penetrex®” in large, bold, black font, “INTENSIVE CARE CREAM” in all capital letters in 26 smaller black font, “Joint & Muscle Therapy” in bold dark red font, and a description of some 27 ingredients and the size of the contents in much smaller black font. Id. The fonts used are all sans 1 serif. Id. 2 Beginning around February 2023, defendants began marketing and selling a topical cream 3 under the name PERFECTX Intensive Concentrate Cream. Id. ⁋ 40. Like the PENETREX® 4 Intensive Concentrate Cream, the PERFECTX cream comes in a white, cylindrical jar with rounded 5 edges. Id. The label consists of a white background and, from top to bottom, the color band, 6 “Perfectx” in large, bold, black font, “INSTENSIVE CONCENTRATE CREAM” in all capital 7 letters in smaller black font, “Joint & Bone Therapy” in bold dark red font, and a description of 8 ingredients and the size of the contents in much smaller black font. Id. The fonts used are sans serif 9 and strikingly similar to the fonts used on the label of the PENETREX Intensive Care Cream. Id. 10 Plaintiff and defendant market and sell their products through the same channels, such as 11 Amazon and Facebook ads. Id. ⁋ 43. Both products are “relatively inexpensive.” Id. ⁋ 44. 12 Defendant has appropriated images from plaintiff’s advertisements to use in its own and has made 13 “outlandish and false claims of efficacy” of its products. Id. ⁋ 54–58. Plaintiff alleges that 14 defendant’s products are “of a significantly lower quality” than plaintiff’s and that confusion of the 15 products has harmed plaintiff’s reputation and sales. Id. ⁋⁋ 49–52. Plaintiff also alleges defendant 16 falsely claims its product is made in the United States. Id. ⁋⁋ 60–62. 17 Plaintiff alleges defendant has willfully confused consumers, who have written to plaintiff 18 complaining of the poor quality of defendant’s products. Id. ⁋⁋ 63–65. 19 Plaintiff filed the complaint on June 8, 2023. Plaintiff brings federal claims for trademark 20 infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising, and California claims for violation of the 21 California UCL, California false advertising law, and California common law. Id. ⁋⁋ 69–131. On 22 June 22, 2023, plaintiff filed a motion for preliminary injunction and a declaration explaining 23 plaintiff’s attempts to serve defendants. Dkt. Nos. 12, 14. Per the affidavit, plaintiff has been unable 24 to locate defendant directly but has successfully sent documents to a mail receiving agency 25 contracted by defendants as well as the attorney who filed a trademark application for defendants. 26 Dkt. No. 14. 27 1 LEGAL STANDARD 2 Rule 65(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits a court to issue a temporary 3 restraining order without notice to the adverse party only where “specific facts in an affidavit or a 4 verified complaint clearly show that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to 5 the movant....” Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(b)(1)(A). The movant’s attorney must certify in writing “any 6 attempts to give notice and the reasons why it should not be required.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(b)(1)(B). 7 These requirements “reflect the fact that our entire jurisprudence runs counter to the notion of court 8 action taken before reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard has been granted both sides of 9 a dispute.” Granny Goose Foods, Inc. v. Bhd. of Teamsters & Auto Truck Drivers, 415 U.S. 423, 10 438-39 (1974). 11 The standards for issuing a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction are the 12 same. See Stuhlbarg Int’l Sales Co. v. John D. Brush & Co., 240 F.3d 832, 839 n. 7 (9th Cir.2001). 13 Like a preliminary injunction, a temporary restraining order may only issue if the movant establishes 14 (1) a likelihood of success on the merits, (2) a likelihood that the movant will suffer irreparable harm 15 in the absence of relief, (3) that the balance of equities tips in the movant’s favor, and (4) that a 16 restraining order is in the public interest. See Winter v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 20 17 (2008). The Ninth Circuit applies a “sliding scale” approach to preliminary injunctions such that a 18 preliminary injunction can issue “where the likelihood of success is such that ‘serious questions 19 going to the merits were raised and the balance of hardships tips sharply in [plaintiff's] favor.’ ” 20 Doe v. San Diego Unified Sch. Dist., 19 F.4th 1173, 1177 (9th Cir. 2021) (quoting All. for the Wild 21 Rockies v. Cottrell, 632 F.3d 1127, 1131 (9th Cir. 2011)). 22 A trial court weighing whether to issue a preliminary injunction “may give even inadmissible 23 evidence some weight, when to do so serves the purpose of preventing irreparable harm before trial.” 24 Johnson v. Couturier, 572 F.3d 1067, 1083 (9th Cir. 2009) (quoting Flynt Distrib. Co. v. Harvey, 25 734 F.2d 1389, 1394 (9th Cir.1984)). 26 27 1 DISCUSSION 2 A. Likelihood of Success on the Merits 3 To prevail on a trademark infringement or unfair competition claim, a plaintiff must show 4 that (1) it has a valid, protectible trademark, and (2) the defendant’s use of the mark is likely to 5 cause confusion. 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(A). 6 Here, plaintiff has submitted evidence that it owns U.S. Trademark Registration No. 7 4,156,859 for the PENETREX® word mark, which was registered on June 12, 2012. Sexton Decl. 8 ¶¶ 10–12, Ex. A. “Registration of a mark on the Principal Register in the Patent and Trademark 9 Office constitutes prima facie evidence of the validity of the registered mark and of [the registrant’s] 10 exclusive right to use the mark on the goods and services specified in the registration.” Applied 11 Info. Scis. Corp. v.

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Biomax Health Products LLC v. Perfectx USA, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/biomax-health-products-llc-v-perfectx-usa-cand-2023.