Corbond Corp. v. Core Foam, Inc.

356 F. Supp. 2d 910, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2501, 2005 WL 256353
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJanuary 31, 2005
Docket04-C-127-C
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 356 F. Supp. 2d 910 (Corbond Corp. v. Core Foam, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corbond Corp. v. Core Foam, Inc., 356 F. Supp. 2d 910, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2501, 2005 WL 256353 (W.D. Wis. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

CRABB, District Judge.

This is a civil action for injunctive relief. Plaintiff Corbond Corporation contends that defendant Core Form, Inc. infringes its trademark, dilutes its trademark and unfairly competes in violation of the Lan-ham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1114, 1125 and unfairly competes in the marketplace in violation of Wis. Stat. § 100.20 and Wisconsin common law. Jurisdiction is present. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1367.

Presently before the court is defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Because there is similarity between the CORE-FOAM marks of defendant and the COR-BOND mark of plaintiff, similarity in the parties’ products, overlap in use and promotion of the parties’ products and potential initial interest confusion among foam insulation consumers and because plaintiffs mark is strong in the foam insulation marketplace, I will deny defendant’s motion as it applies to plaintiffs federal trademark infringement and unfair competition claims. However, plaintiff failed to adduce evidence of actual dilution of its CORBOND mark. Therefore, I will grant defendant’s motion as it applies to plaintiffs federal trademark dilution claim. Because defendant failed to develop any argument rebutting plaintiffs state law claims of unfair competition and supplemental jurisdiction exists over those claims, I will deny defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to plaintiffs state law claims.

From the parties’ combined proposed findings of fact and the record, I find the following facts to be material and undisputed.

UNDISPUTED FACTS

A. The Parties

Plaintiff Corbond Corporation is a Montana corporation that has marketed and sold spray-in-place foam insulation since 1986. Plaintiffs president is Neal Ganser. *913 CORBOND foam insulation is used in stud walls, poured concrete walls and masonry block walls. For example, when applying CORBOND foam insulation to a structure that will contain sheetroek and stud wall cavities, the installer sprays the insulation into place after plumbers* electricians and other subcontractors have completed rough-in work but before the sheetroek is put in place. The insulation is used in commercial, residential and institutional buildings. Plaintiff has installed its foam insulation in such notable buildings as the Ray and Maria Stat Center on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Maine Audubon Center, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home at Taliesen in Spring Green, Wisconsin, The Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin, and Clint Eastwood’s Tahama Golf Club in Monterey, California.

According to plaintiffs marketing materials, CORBOND foam insulation does not contain formaldehyde. Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission lifted its 1982 ban forbidding use of urea formaldehyde foam insulation in residences and schools in the United States, many states require sellers of buildings to disclose the presence of formaldehyde and a few states still restrict the use of foam insulation that contains formaldehyde.

In 2002, Richard Porter founded defendant Core Foam, Inc., a Tennessee corporation. Porter serves as defendant’s president. Before creating Core Foam, Inc., Porter worked at Eastman Chemical,.primarily with producers of urethane foam. Eastman Chemical was in the business of manufacturing polyurethane raw materials used to make polyurethane foam insulation, the same type of insulation sold by plaintiff. In 2001, Porter began working as a technical manager for Polymaster, a supplier of foam insulations, where he developed and launched Polymaster’s first line of spray polyurethane foam insulation.

Defendant markets and sells masonry foam insulation that installers inject into the hollow cavities of masonry blocks and stud wall cavities. Defendant’s insulation is suitable for commercial, new residential and retrofit applications. Defendant’s insulation product contains formaldehyde.

B. Trademark Applications

Plaintiff is the owner of two trademarks and one service mark. Since at least 1986, defendant has continuously used the CORBOND mark in connection with foam insulation, chemical resins making up CORBOND foam insulation and insulation installation services. On October 7, 1986, the United States Patent and Trademark Office' issued plaintiff U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,412,348 for the mark CORBOND in block letters for “spray in place polyurethane insulation.” In addition, on February 11, 1997, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued plaintiff U.S. Service Mark Registration No. 2,037,263 for the mark COR-BOND in block letters for “installation of building insulation.” Finally, on December 8, 1998, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued plaintiff U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,208,272 for the mark CORBOND in block letters for “chemical - resins for use in the manufacture of spray in place polyurethane insulation.” The United States Patent and Trademark Office did not refuse any of plaintiffs applications for the CORBOND mark on the ground that the mark is de-. scriptive. Each of plaintiffs trademarks and its service mark has achieved incontestable status as noted by reference to “Sections 8 & 15” on the certified copies of each of the marks’ registration numbers.

When Porter started defendant Core Foam, Inc. in 2002, he and his wife Dawn Porter worked with a graphic artist to create a name and logo for the company. They selected the name Core Foam, Inc. *914 to convey to consumers that the insulation is injected into the core cavities of concrete masonry blocks. The graphic artist created a logo incorporating a concrete masonry block to depict “o’s” in the words “core” and “foam.” Defendant uses this mark in connection with its foam insulation. Because Porter could not afford the expense of an official trademark search conducted by a lawyer, he performed his own search in online trademark databases within the insulation industry. On January 6, 2003, defendant filed trademark application serial number 78/200,347 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office to register the following mark:

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C. Marketing, Sales and Distribution

Approximately 75 percent of plaintiffs sales are for residential applications, 20 percent are for commercial applications and 5 percent are for institutional applications, such as hospitals and university buildings. Plaintiff sells CORBOND foam insulation through approximately 87 installers in approximately 29 states. CORBOND installers are not limited to installing CORBOND foam insulation in a particular geographic area. In distributing CORBOND foam insulation, plaintiff distributes two components, known as components A and B, in sets containing 500 pounds of each component, which are placed in 55-gallon drums for transportation to insulation installers. The installers mix components A and B together to form CORBOND foam insulation.

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Bluebook (online)
356 F. Supp. 2d 910, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2501, 2005 WL 256353, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corbond-corp-v-core-foam-inc-wiwd-2005.