Comphy Co. v. Amazon.Com, Inc.

371 F. Supp. 3d 914
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedMarch 12, 2019
DocketCASE NO. C18-1460RSM
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 371 F. Supp. 3d 914 (Comphy Co. v. Amazon.Com, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Comphy Co. v. Amazon.Com, Inc., 371 F. Supp. 3d 914 (W.D. Wash. 2019).

Opinion

RICARDO S. MARTINEZ, CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's Second Amended Motion and Memorandum for Entry of Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. # 81) and Defendant Amazon.com, Inc.'s Unopposed Motion to File Documents Under Seal (Dkt. # 82). Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction maintains that Defendant is impermissibly using Plaintiff's trademark in various contexts to further Defendant's own business interests. Plaintiff argues that Defendant's actions are harming its own business and seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent Defendant's numerous uses of its trademark. Defendant maintains that its use is in accordance with trademark law and that no preliminary injunction is warranted. Dkt. # 84. Having reviewed the record and *919for the reasons below, the Court denies Plaintiff's Motion and grants, in part, Defendant's motion to seal.1

II. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, The Comphy Company, markets itself as a luxury company, historically supplying its linens to luxury spas. Dkt. # 34 at ¶ 2. Plaintiff's business has grown from a single employee to a successful industry leader in spa linens. Id. at ¶¶ 3-11. Over time, Plaintiff expanded into bedding and began selling to luxury hotels and spas and allowing those customers to sell bedding directly to the public. Id. at ¶¶ 14-15. To further capitalize on its new product and reputation, Plaintiff began marketing its bedding to high-end bed and breakfasts. Id. at ¶ 15. Around this same time, Plaintiff began shipping directly to the public so that the hotels, spas, and bed and breakfasts selling its products did not have to carry inventory. Id. at ¶ 17. Ultimately, Plaintiff decided to start retailing its products online through its own website. Id. at ¶ 18.

Plaintiff does not market directly to customers and instead relies upon word of mouth and first-hand exposure at hotels, spas, and bed and breakfasts utilizing its products. Id. at ¶¶ 19-34. Defendant has solicited Plaintiff several times to sell its products on Defendant's platforms. Id. at ¶ 25. To maintain the luxury branding of its products, Plaintiff has actively decided not to sell or market its products on Defendant's platforms. Id. at ¶¶ 25-26.

In furtherance of its own business, Defendant purchases keyword advertising from various search engines so that members of the public searching for certain terms are offered to search on Defendant's website. Defendant has purchased keyword advertising utilizing keywords including COMPHY from several search engines. Dkt. # 1-12 (Google search for "comphy sheets" displaying Defendant's ad for "Comfy Sheets Queen"); Dkt. # 1-13 (Bing search results for "comphy sheets" displaying Defendant's ad for "Shop Comfy Sheets"); Dkt. # 97-2 (Yahoo! search results for "comphy" displaying Defendant's ad for "Comphy Co. Sheets"); Dkt. # 104-3 (Bing search for "comphy co sheets" displaying Defendant's ad for "Comphy Company Sheets at Amazon"). Some ads appear to take consumers to searches for related products on Defendants' website and some appear to take consumers to specific products.

Within Defendant's website, individuals may also make searches. If "comph" is entered, Defendant's search bar provides possible searches including for "comphy sheets," "comphy company sheets," and "comphysheets" along with seven other unrelated possible searches. Dkt. # 1-7. Because Plaintiff's products are not available through Defendant, a search for "comphy sheets" provides products similar to Plaintiff's products, including bedding offered for sale by "Comfy." Dkt. # 1-8. On one product advertised in response to a search for "comphy sheets," Defendant includes a prominent tag providing: "Amazon's Choice for 'comphy sheets.' "2 Dkt. # 1-11.

*920Plaintiff believes that Defendant's actions are causing it to fall short of its yearly growth target and that Defendant's actions are harming its brand. Id. at ¶¶ 29-30, 32. Plaintiff projected a significant increase in its online sales in 2018 but has not met that growth rate through May 31, 2018. Id. at ¶ 29. Plaintiff maintains that, if not granted the requested relief, it will suffer irreparable harm from Defendant's continued actions. Plaintiff requests that the Court enter a preliminary injunction prohibiting Defendant from:

1. Promoting, supporting or allowing third parties' unauthorized use of the COMPHY trademark (or highly similar marks such as COMFY) to promote bedding, sheets, pillows and related products not made by or under the authority of The Comphy Co. (the "Infringing Products");
2. Distributing, offering for sale, and selling merchandise under the COMPHY COMPANY, COMPHY SHEETS or COMFY SHEETS storefront in connection with the Infringing Products;
3. Using the prepopulated search term "Comphy Company Sheets", the search term "Comphy" (either alone or with other words), the search term "Comfy" applied to the Infringing Products (either alone or with other words), the search term "Comfy Company Sheets" and the corresponding display of infringing and unlabeled third-party sheets in connection with such searches. Any search including "Comphy" or "Comfy Sheets/Bedding/Pillows" should only display products with clear and unambiguous labelling to show that the products are not genuine Comphy brand products;
4. Automatically suggesting searches for "Comphy", "Comphy Sheets", "Comphy Company" and "Comfy Sheets" when users begin to type a first few letters of those marks;
5. Using "Comphy" on product search result pages in phrases like "Amazon's Choice for Comphy Sheets"; and
6. Using COMPHY or COMFY SHEETS as keywords with Google AdWords and other online advertising networks.

Dkt. # 81 at 22-23.

III. DISCUSSION

1. Legal Standard

Preliminary injunctive relief is "an extraordinary remedy that may only be awarded upon a clear showing that the plaintiff is entitled to such relief." Winter v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc. , 555 U.S. 7, 22, 129 S.Ct. 365, 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008) (citing Mazurek v. Armstrong , 520 U.S. 968, 972, 117 S.Ct. 1865, 138 L.Ed.2d 162 (1997) (per curiam) ).

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371 F. Supp. 3d 914, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/comphy-co-v-amazoncom-inc-wawd-2019.