Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Away Discount

778 F. Supp. 2d 157
District Court, D. Puerto Rico·Decided September 20, 2010·No. Civil No.: 07-1493 (DRD)·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

ORDER REGARDING DAMAGES AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION

DANIEL R. DOMINGUEZ, District Judge.

Upon consideration of Plaintiffs Disney Enterprises, Inc., Sanrio, Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Hanna-Barbara Productions, Inc., DC Comics, Nike, Inc. and Oakley, Inc., Motion for Summary Judgment against Defendant Nader Ibrahim d/b/a Tienda La Unica (hereinafter “Summary Judgment Defendant”), as well as Plaintiffs’ Motion for Default Judgment against Defendants Hector J. Rodriguez Ramos d/b/a Away Discount, Ada L. Cabrero Arroyo d/b/a Bordados Ada, Los Angeles Gift Shop, Jesus R. Fortis Ahorrio d/b/a Mundo de Curiosidades, Rolando Rodriguez Oyóla d/b/a Oscar Imports, Ana G. Acevedo Burgos d/b/a Tienda AG Little Store, Tienda Fun & Happy, Tienda La Peseta, and Torrecillas Gas Station (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Default Judgment Defendants”)(the Summary Judgment Defendant and Default Judgment Defendants will collectively be referred to as “Defendants”), wherein Plaintiffs requested that the Court to award statutory -damages against the Defendants under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 501 et seq., and Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1117(c), together with a Permanent Injunction and related relief, and after holding a damages hearing, this Court makes the following findings and rulings of law.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiffs initiated the present action on June 11, 2007. Plaintiffs’ Complaint states causes of action against the Defendants for trademark infringement, copyright infringement, and unfair competition under the laws of the United States. At that time the Plaintiffs sought a Temporary Restraining Order, Seizure Order and Show Cause Order for Entry of Preliminary Injunction. These motions were supported by sworn testimony from each of the Plaintiffs that they owned the exclusive rights to the trademarks and copyrighted properties identified on Exhibits A and B, as well assertions that none of the defendants named in the present action were authorized to manufacture, distribute, sell, or offer for sale merchandise bearing their trademarks and copyrighted properties. See Aggregate Exhibit “D” to the Complaint, incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, Plaintiffs provided the sworn testimony of their investigators who had purchased sample pieces of coun[160]*160terfeit merchandise from each of the Defendants, which were attached to their declarations. See Aggregate Exhibit “E” to the Complaint, incorporated herein by reference.

Pursuant to this Court’s June 14, 2007 Order, the U.S. Marshal’s Service served the Complaint, Temporary Restraining Order and Seizure in this matter on Defendants named in the Complaint on June 16, 2007. On July 24, 2007 the Court entered a Preliminary Injunction against each of the Defendants. The Default Defendants never filed any answer to the Complaint, or otherwise defended this matter. As a result, defaults were entered against the Default Defendants on October 12, 2007, January 10, 2008 and February 14, 2008 (Docket Nos. 87, 95 and 98). On August 20, 2010, 2010 WL 3372704, this Court entered an Order of Summary Judgment against Nader Ibrahim d/b/a Tienda La Unica (Docket No. 202). In that order, the Court also ordered that the hearing regarding Plaintiffs’ request for statutory damages be held on August 31, 2010. A hearing on statutory damages was subsequently held on September 1, 20101 as to both the Summary Judgment Defendant and Default Judgment Defendants

DEFAULT JUDGMENT

The Clerk of Court has entered default against Default Judgment Defendants Bordados Ada, Mundo de Curiosidades, Oscar Imports, Away Discount, Tienda AG Little Store, Tienda Fun & Happy, Los Angeles Gift Shop, Tienda La Peseta and Torrecillas Gas Station. “The default of a defendant constitutes an admission of all facts well-pleaded in the complaint.” Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Colon Rivera, 204 F.Supp.2d 273, 274-75 (D.P.R.2002) (citing Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria v. Family Rest., Inc. (In re The Home Rest., Inc.), 285 F.3d 111, 114 (1st Cir.2002) (“a party gives up right to contest liability ‘when it declines to participate in the judicial process’ ”)); see also Thomson v. Wooster, 114 U.S. 104, 110, 5 S.Ct. 788, 29 L.Ed. 105 (1985) (a default constitutes an acceptance by the party constituting a “confession of the action,” accepting all well-pleaded facts of the complaint); see also Franco v. Selective Ins. Co., 184 F.3d 4, 9 n. 3 (1st Cir.1999) (“[a] party who defaults is taken to have conceded the truth of the factual allegations in the complaint”); see also Goldman, Antonetti, Ferraiuoli, Axtmayer & Hertell v. Medfit Int’l, Inc., 982 F.2d 686, 693 (1st Cir.1993) (“an entry of default against a defendant establishes the defendant’s liability”); see also Brockton Savings Bank v. Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., 771 F.2d 5, 13 (1st Cir.1985) (“there is no question that, default having been entered, each of [plaintiffs] allegations of fact must be taken as true and each of its [ ] claims must be considered established as a matter of law”) cert. denied 475 U.S. 1018, 106 S.Ct. 1204, 89 L.Ed.2d 317 (1986); see also Eisler v. Stritzler, 535 F.2d 148, 153 (1st Cir.1976) (“[t]he default judgment on the well-pleaded allegations in plaintiffs complaint established ... defendant’s liability”); see also Caribbean Prod. Exchg. v. Caribe Hydro-Trailer, Inc., 65 F.R.D. 46, 48 (D.P.R.1974) (“It is the law that once a default is entered, a defendant on default has no former standing to contest the factual allegations of plaintiffs claim for relief ... Defendant is deemed to have admitted all well pleaded allegations in the complaint. At the most, all that defendant can [161]*161do is question the extent of the damages suffered by the plaintiff.”) Having defaulted, the aforementioned Default Judgment Defendants thus admitted the well-pleaded facts of the complaint and these Defendants could only question the extent of the damages which Plaintiffs suffered. See Goldman, Antonetti 982 F.2d at 686. Defendants failed to do so at the hearing regarding damages.

STATUTORY DAMAGES

This Court has wide discretion when determining a proper statutory damages award. Plaintiffs have elected to recover statutory damages pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1117(c), which authorizes statutory damages of no less than $1,000 or more than $200,000 per counterfeit mark per type of goods or services sold, offered for sale, or distributed, as the court considers just.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Away Discount, 778 F. Supp. 2d 157 (prd 2010).

778 F. Supp. 2d 157 (Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Away Discount) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Away Discount
778 F. Supp. 2d 157 (D. Puerto Rico, 2010)