Chanel, Inc. v. Sea Hero

235 F. Supp. 3d 1375, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189178, 2016 WL 8678030
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedMarch 8, 2016
DocketCase No. 16-cv-60338-BLOOM/Valle
StatusPublished

This text of 235 F. Supp. 3d 1375 (Chanel, Inc. v. Sea Hero) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chanel, Inc. v. Sea Hero, 235 F. Supp. 3d 1375, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189178, 2016 WL 8678030 (S.D. Fla. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

BETH BLOOM, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Plaintiffs Motion for Entry of Preliminary Injunction, EOF No. [8] (“Motion”), filed o n February 23, 2016. The Court has carefully considered the Motion, the record in this case, and the applicable law, and is otherwise fully advised. By the instant Motion, Plaintiff Chanel, Inc. (“Plaintiff’), moves for entry of a preliminary injunction against Defendants,1 for alleged violations of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1114, 1125(a).

The Court held a hearing on March 7, 2016, which was attended by counsel for Plaintiff only. During the hearing, Plaintiff directed the Court to evidence supporting the Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Several days before the hearing, Plaintiff notified the Court that it had received an email inquiry from Defendant No. 22, to which it provided notice of the hearing and its right to file in answer in response to Plaintiffs claims. ECF Nos. [14], [14-1] (“You have the right to file an Answer with the Court in response to Plaintiffs claims.”). Nevertheless, none of the Defendants formally responded to the Motion for Preliminary Injunction, nor did they make any appearance or filing in this case, other than the above-mentioned email, either individually or through counsel. Because Plaintiff has satisfied the requirements for the issuance of a preliminary injunction, [1377]*1377the Court grants the Motion for Preliminary Injunction.

L FACTUAL BACKGROUND 2

Plaintiff is the registered owner of the following trademarks which are valid and registered on the Principal Register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “Chanel Marks”):

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See Declaration of Adrienne Hahn Sisbar-ro, ECF No.' [8-1] at ¶4. The Chanel Marks are used in connection with the manufacture and distribution of high quality goods in the categories identified above. See id. at ¶¶ 4-5.

Defendants, through Internet based e-commerce stores via an Internet marketplace website, under their seller identification names identified on Schedule “A” hereto (the “Seller IDs”), have advertised, promoted, offered for sale, or sold goods [1378]*1378bearing what Plaintiff has determined to be counterfeits, infringements, reproductions, or colorable imitations of the Chanel Marks. See Declaration of Adrienne Hahn Sisbarro, ECF No. [8-1] at ¶¶ 9, 11-15; see also Declaration of Virgilio Gigante, ECF No. [8-3] at ¶¶2-3; Declaration of Eric Rosaler, ECF No. [8-5] at ¶ 4.

Although each Defendant may not copy and infringe each Chanel Mark for each category of goods protected, Plaintiff has submitted sufficient evidence showing each Defendant has infringed, at least, one or more of the Chanel Marks. See Declaration of Adrienne Hahn Sisbarro, ECF No. [8-1] at ¶¶ 9,11-15. Defendants are not now, nor have they ever been, authorized or licensed to use, reproduce, or make counterfeits, reproductions, or colorable imitations of the Chanel Marks. See id. at ¶¶ 9, 13, 15.

Counsel for Plaintiff retained Eric Ro-saler (“Rosaler”), an officer of AED Investigations, Inc., a licensed private investigative firm, to investigate the promotion and sale of counterfeit and infringing Chanel branded products by Defendants. See Declaration of Adrienne Hahn Sisbarro, ECF No. [8-1] at ¶ 10; Declaration of Virgilio Gigante, ECF No. [8-3] at ¶ 3; Declaration of Eric Rosaler, ECF No. [8-5] at ¶ 3, Through Amazon.com, Mr. Rosaler’s firm accessed all of Defendants’ Internet based e-commerce stores operating under their respective Seller IDs, and upon accessing each e-commerce store, Mr. Rosaler’s firm was able to view products bearing Plaintiffs trademarks, add products to the online shopping cart, and proceed to a point of checkout. See Declaration of Eric Rosaler, ECF No. [8-5] at ¶4. Mr. Rosaler’s firm finalized the purchase of a product bearing counterfeits of, at least, one of the Chanel Marks at issue in this action, via each Seller ID, to be shipped to Mr. Rosaler’s firm’s address in the Southern District of Florida. Id. Each purchase was processed entirely online and at the conclusion of the process, the detailed web page captures reflecting various Chanel branded products Mr. Rosaler’s firm purchased via each Defendant’s Seller ID, were sent to Plaintiffs representative for inspection. Id.-, see also Declaration of Adrienne Hahn Sisbarro, ECF No. [8-1] at ¶ 11; Declaration of Virgilio Gigante, ECF No. [8-3] at ¶ 3.

Additionally, Plaintiffs counsel’s firm accessed the Internet based e-commeree stores operating under the Seller IDs, and captured relevant web pages illustrating examples of some of Defendants’ infringement of Plaintiffs trademarks at issue via their respective Seller IDs, as well as web pages identifying various foreign countries as the shipping origins for the e-commerce stores operating under each of the Seller IDs, and provided copies of those web page captures3 to Plaintiffs representative for inspection. See Declaration of Virgilio Gigante, ECF No. [8-3] at ¶2, n.l; Declaration of Adrienne Hahn Sisbarro, ECF No. [8-1] at ¶¶ 13-14, n.l.

Plaintiffs representative conducted a review of and visually inspected Defendants’ e-commerce stores operating under the Seller IDs, together with all of the items bearing the Chanel Marks offered for sale by Defendants thereunder, including the [1379]*1379detailed web'page captures of the Chanel branded goods identified and captured by both Mr. ■ Rosaler’s firm and Plaintiffs counsel’s office, and provided to Plaintiff thereafter, and determined the products were non-genuine, unauthorized versions of Plaintiffs goods. See Declaration of Adrienne Hahn Sisbarro, ECF No. [8-1] at ¶¶ 12-15.4

On February 22, 2016, Plaintiff filed its Complaint, ECF No. [1], against Defendants for trademark counterfeiting and infringement, false designation of origin, common law unfair competition, and common law trademark infringement. On February 23, 2016, Plaintiff filed its Ex Parte Application for Entry of Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary Injunction, and Order Restrainihg Transfer of Assets, ECF No. [8]. On February 25, 2016, this Court entered a sealed Temporary Restraining Order, ECF No. [9], enjoining Defendants from, among other actions, continuing to manufacture, promote, and/or sell any products bearing Plaintiffs alleged infringed trademarks. The Temporary Restraining Order also directed Amazon Payments, Inc. (“Amazon”) to identify and restrain funds in payment accounts associated with Defendants and to transfer divert those funds. to a holding account. Pursuant to the February 25, 2016 Order, Plaintiff served Defendants with a copy of the Complaint together with copies of the Ex Parte Application for Entry of Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary Injunction, and Order Restraining Transfer of Assets -and the Court’s February 25, 2016 Temporary Restraining Order, thereby providing notice and copies of the February 25, 2016 Temporary Restraining Order and Plaintiffs Ex Parte

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Bluebook (online)
235 F. Supp. 3d 1375, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189178, 2016 WL 8678030, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chanel-inc-v-sea-hero-flsd-2016.