Car-Freshner Corp. v. Big Lots Stores, Inc.

314 F. Supp. 2d 145, 70 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1758, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7270, 2004 WL 893966
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedApril 23, 2004
Docket7:02-cv-01343
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 314 F. Supp. 2d 145 (Car-Freshner Corp. v. Big Lots Stores, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Car-Freshner Corp. v. Big Lots Stores, Inc., 314 F. Supp. 2d 145, 70 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1758, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7270, 2004 WL 893966 (N.D.N.Y. 2004).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM-DECISION and ORDER

MCAVOY, Senior District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs Car-Freshner Corporation (“CFC”) and Julius Samann LTD (“JSL”) commenced the instant action against Defendants Big Lots Stores, Inc. (“BLS”) and Midwestern Home Products, Inc. (“MHP”) alleging trademark infringement, false designation of origin, common law trademark infringement, unfair competition, and trademark counterfeiting arising out of Defendants’ sale of a tree-shaped air freshener. Currently before the Court are: (1) Plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 seeking a determination of trademark priority, trademark validity and the likelihood of confusion; 1 and (2) Defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 seeking dismissal of Plaintiffs’ common law claims for punitive damages and a determination that this is not an “exceptional case” under section 35(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a).

II. FACTS

Plaintiff JSL is the owner of the Royal Pine and Tree Design trademarks for air fresheners (Registration Nos. 719,948; 1,781,016; 1,791,233; and 1,990,038). Through various licensing arrangements with JSL, Plaintiff CFC manufactures and markets air fresheners with the Tree Design and Royal Pine trademarks. The air fresheners are packaged in a see-through cellophane pouch. The purported purposes of the see-through pouch are to permit the consumer to see the product and to prevent the scent from dissipating while the product is in the store. Each of Plaintiffs’ products contains a federal trademark registration symbol (®) thereon. The “Car-Freshner” mark appears on some, but not all, of Plaintiffs’ tree-shaped air freshener products. In some instances, the particular fragrance name, such as Royal Pine, is depicted on a white rectangular background on the base of the product. On other of Plaintiffs’ products, there are no rectangular panels with a fragrance name and/or with the Car-Freshner mark, although there is still a rectangular base at the bottom of the tree-shaped air freshener.

Defendant BLS is a mass merchandiser that sells various categories of goods. BLS is the corporate parent of Defendant MHP. MHP is identified as the distributor on the packaging for many of Defendants’ imported products, including the air freshener products that are the subject of this lawsuit. At all times pertinent hereto, Lyle Davis was the Vice President of imports for BLS. His responsibilities include locating sources for merchandise for BLS.

In October 2001, Davis attended a merchandise fair in China. Davis was accompanied by a Hong Kong trader, Kingsley International Development Limited (“Kingsley”), with which BLS does business. As a general practice, when Davis identifies products that be believes to be possibilities for sale through BLS, a Kingsley representative photographs the *148 product and then prepares a Merchandise Information Sheet (“MIS”) for BLS identifying the product and containing pricing information. Davis receives hundreds of MISs, but BLS often only purchases a fraction of the products for which they obtain quotes.

According to Davis, while at the fair, he stopped at a booth containing numerous paper air fresheners. Davis pointed out several possibilities to the Kinglsey representative. Davis contends that he spent a short amount of time at the booth and did not handle or closely examine any of the air fresheners. Davis does not recall choosing a tree-shaped product, although he does not deny that the air freshener products that he saw may have included Plaintiffs’ products.

After Davis returned to the United States, Kingsley sent him an MIS for a tree-shaped air freshener. The MIS describes the item as “3 PCS SET AIR FRESHENER — ROYAL PINE.” The MIS included a copy of a photograph of a tree-shaped air freshener. According to BLS, no product name, trade name, manufacturer’s name or symbols were discernible from the picture on the MIS. Davis contends that BLS was not provided with an exemplar of the product depicted in the picture and never received a clearer photograph of the product. On the other hand, Defendants state that it “appears” that they had an actual photograph of one of Plaintiffs’ products in its possession at the time it ordered paper air fresheners through Kingsley. 2 April 1, 2004 Bren Aff. at Ex. F. Defendants also admit that “a photograph of what appears to be [Plaintiffs’] product appears on the [MIS] ... but denies that the product is clearly visible or that such photograph disclosed a trademarked product.” Defs. Responsive SMF at ¶ 37.

After reviewing the MIS and considering issues of pricing, shipping, and availability, Davis decided to purchase the product for sale by BLS. Davis forwarded the MIS to BLS’s package design department for the preparation of packaging using the name “Fresh Flair.” Before ordering or otherwise selling the product, BLS did not perform a trademark, patent or copyright clearance search. Kingsley arranged for the manufacture of certain air fresheners for BLS. BLS ordered three air freshener products: (1) a yellow vanilla scented air freshener, (2) a red strawberry scented air freshener, and (3) a green, tree-shaped, pine-scented air freshener. 3 Ultimately, BLS offered for sale its “Fresh Flair 3 Pk Air Fresheners.” This product consisted of packaging three separate air fresheners (one vanilla, one strawberry, and one tree) in a single unit. Each air freshener was packaged in a separate cellophane pouch. Each of the cellophane pouches were affixed at the top to a card. The Fresh Fair 3 Pk was packaged such that the tree-shaped air freshener was included on the bottom of the three pack (the vanilla scent was on top, the strawberry in the middle, and the pine on the bottom). BLS sold the three pack of air fresheners from approximately August 2002 through November 2002. In November 2002, in response to communications from Plaintiffs, BLS ordered its employees to pull the items from its store shelves.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

On a motion for summary judgment, the Court must construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving *149 party, see Tenenbaum v. Williams, 193 F.3d 581, 593 (2d Cir.1999), and may grant summary judgment only where “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ, P. 56(c). An issue is genuine if the relevant evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmov-ing party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

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314 F. Supp. 2d 145, 70 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1758, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7270, 2004 WL 893966, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/car-freshner-corp-v-big-lots-stores-inc-nynd-2004.