GS Holistic LLC v. Empire Smoke Shop2 LLC

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedNovember 7, 2023
Docket2:23-cv-00314
StatusUnknown

This text of GS Holistic LLC v. Empire Smoke Shop2 LLC (GS Holistic LLC v. Empire Smoke Shop2 LLC) 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
GS Holistic LLC v. Empire Smoke Shop2 LLC, (W.D. Wash. 2023).

Opinion

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE

9 10 GS HOLISTIC, LLC, CASE NO. C23-0314JLR 11 Plaintiff, ORDER v. 12 EMPIRE SMOKE SHOP2, LLC, et 13 al., 14 Defendants. 15 I. INTRODUCTION 16 Before the court is Plaintiff GS Holistic, LLC’s (“GS Holistic”) motion for entry 17 of default judgment against Defendants Empire Smoke Shop2, LLC (“Empire Smoke 18 Shop”) and Samer Shammar (together, “Defendants”). (Mot. (Dkt. # 12); see Prop. 19 Judgment (Dkt. # 12-3).) Neither Defendant has appeared in this action, and the Clerk 20 has entered default against both Defendants. (Entry of Default (Dkt. # 10).) The court 21 has considered GS Holistic’s motion, the materials it submitted in support of its motion, 22 1 the relevant portions of the record, and the governing law. Being fully advised, the court 2 GRANTS in part and DENIES in part GS Holistic’s motion for entry of default

3 judgment. 4 II. BACKGROUND 5 GS Holistic is a Delaware limited liability corporation (“LLC”) that has its 6 principal place of business in California. (Compl. (Dkt. # 1) ¶ 4.) It alleges that it is the 7 owner of the “STÜNDENGLASS” trademark, has worked to distinguish the 8 Stündenglass brand as “the premier manufacturer of glass infusers,” and has devoted

9 significant time and resources promoting and protecting its trademark. (Id. ¶¶ 4, 7-9, 14.) 10 GS Holistic has registered the following trademarks: (1) U.S. Trademark Registration 11 No. 6,633,884 “for the standard character mark ‘Stündenglass’ in association with goods 12 further identified in registration in international class 011”; (2) U.S. Trademark 13 Registration No. 6,174,292 “for the design plus words mark ‘S’ and its logo in

14 association with goods further identified in the registration in international class 034”; 15 and (3) U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,174,291 “for the standard character mark 16 ‘Stündenglass’ in association with goods further identified in registration in international 17 class 034” (together, the “Stündenglass Marks”). (Id. ¶ 10; see also Mot., Ex. A 18 (screenshots of pages from the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark

19 Electronic Search System that describe each trademark).) GS Holistic asserts that 20 consumers are willing to pay more for “the recognized quality and innovation associated 21 with the Stündenglass Marks.” (Compl. ¶ 20.) Thus, genuine Stündenglass glass infusers 22 1 are priced at $599.95, while non-Stündenglass infusers sell for between $199.00 and 2 $600.00. (Id.)

3 Defendant Empire Smoke Shop is a Washington corporation that has its principal 4 place of business in Washington. (Id. ¶ 5.) Defendant Samer Shammar is a resident and 5 citizen of Washington. (Id. ¶ 6.) GS Holistic asserts that Defendants sold counterfeit 6 products bearing the Stündenglass Marks. (Id. ¶¶ 24-27.) On December 9, 2022, 7 according to GS Holistic, its investigator visited Empire Smoke Shop’s location; 8 observed that the shop had “an excess” of glass infusers that displayed the Stündenglass

9 Marks; purchased a glass infuser “with a Stündenglass Mark affixed to it” for $606.58; 10 and determined the glass infuser was a counterfeit product that displayed “the Infringing 11 Marks.” (Id. ¶ 29; see also id. ¶ 25 (defining the “Infringing Marks” as “reproductions, 12 counterfeits, copies, and/or colorable imitations of one or more of the Stündenglass 13 Marks”).)

14 GS Holistic filed its complaint on March 6, 2023. (See id. at 1.) It alleges claims 15 under the Lanham Act against both Defendants for counterfeiting and trademark 16 infringement in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1114 and for false designation of origin and 17 unfair competition in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). (Id. ¶¶ 51-68.) Among other 18 relief, it seeks damages, costs of suit, a permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants

19 from continuing to infringe its Stündenglass trademarks, and an order requiring 20 Defendants to deliver all infringing products to GS Holistic for destruction. (Id. at 21 12-14.) 22 1 GS Holistic served Defendants on April 17, 2023. (See Service Affs. (Dkt. 2 ## 7-8).) The Clerk entered default on June 7, 2023. (Entry of Default.) GS Holistic

3 filed this motion for entry of default judgment on October 31, 2023. (Mot.) 4 III. ANALYSIS 5 Below, the court sets forth the relevant legal standard and then evaluates GS 6 Holistic’s motion for entry of default judgment. 7 A. Legal Standard 8 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2) authorizes the court to enter default

9 judgment against a defaulting defendant upon the plaintiff’s motion. Fed. R. Civ. P. 10 55(a), (b)(2). After default is entered, well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint, 11 except those related to damages, are considered admitted and are sufficient to establish a 12 defendant’s liability. TeleVideo Sys., Inc. v. Heidenthal, 826 F.2d 915, 917-18 (9th Cir. 13 1987) (citing Geddes v. United Fin. Grp., 559 F.2d 557, 560 (9th Cir. 1977)).

14 Entry of default judgment is left to the court’s sound discretion. Aldabe v. Aldabe, 15 616 F.2d 1089, 1092 (9th Cir. 1980). In exercising its discretion, the court considers 16 seven factors (the “Eitel factors”): (1) the possibility of prejudice to the plaintiff if relief 17 is denied; (2) the substantive merits of the plaintiff’s claims; (3) the sufficiency of the 18 claims raised in the complaint; (4) the sum of money at stake in relationship to the

19 defendant’s behavior; (5) the possibility of a dispute concerning material facts; 20 (6) whether default was due to excusable neglect; and (7) the preference for decisions on 21 the merits when reasonably possible. Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471-72 (9th Cir. 22 1986). After the court determines that default judgment is appropriate, it must then 1 determine the amount and character of the relief that should be awarded. See TeleVideo, 2 826 F.2d at 917-18.

3 B. Whether the Eitel Factors Favor Default Judgment 4 The court preliminarily determines that default judgment is warranted in this case 5 because, on balance, the Eitel factors weigh in favor of such judgment. The court 6 discusses each factor in turn. 7 1. Possibility of Prejudice to Plaintiff 8 The first Eitel factor considers whether the plaintiff will suffer prejudice if default

9 judgment is not entered. See PepsiCo, Inc., v. Cal. Sec. Cans, 238 F. Supp. 2d 1172, 10 1177 (C.D. Cal. 2002). Without default judgment, GS Holistic will suffer prejudice 11 because it will “be denied the right to judicial resolution” of its claims and will be 12 “without other recourse for recovery.” Elektra Entm’t Grp. Inc. v. Crawford, 226 F.R.D. 13 388, 392 (C.D. Cal. 2005). Thus, the first Eitel factor weighs in favor of entering default

14 judgment. 15 2. Substantive Merits and Sufficiency of the Complaint 16 The second and third Eitel factors—the substantive merits of the plaintiff’s claim 17 and the sufficiency of the plaintiff’s complaint—are frequently analyzed together. 18 PepsiCo, 238 F. Supp. 2d at 1175. For these two factors to weigh in favor of default

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

Related

Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Alvera M. Aldabe v. Charles D. Aldabe
616 F.2d 1089 (Ninth Circuit, 1980)
Gary R. Eitel v. William D. McCool
782 F.2d 1470 (Ninth Circuit, 1986)
Kimberly Mattoon v. City of Pittsfield
980 F.2d 1 (First Circuit, 1992)
Reno Air Racing Association, Inc. v. Jerry McCord
452 F.3d 1126 (Ninth Circuit, 2006)
Freecycle Network, Inc. v. Oey
505 F.3d 898 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Pepsico, Inc. v. California Security Cans
238 F. Supp. 2d 1172 (C.D. California, 2002)
GUCCI AMERICA, INC. v. Tyrrell-Miller
678 F. Supp. 2d 117 (S.D. New York, 2008)
Fendi Adele S.R.L. v. Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp.
689 F. Supp. 2d 585 (S.D. New York, 2010)
Pom Wonderful v. Robert Hubbard, Jr.
775 F.3d 1118 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
Fong v. United States
300 F.2d 400 (Ninth Circuit, 1962)
Yelp Inc. v. Catron
70 F. Supp. 3d 1082 (N.D. California, 2014)
Wecosign, Inc. v. IFG Holdings, Inc.
845 F. Supp. 2d 1072 (C.D. California, 2012)
Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Castworld Products, Inc.
219 F.R.D. 494 (C.D. California, 2003)
Morrison v. Sovereign State of California
238 F. Supp. 22 (S.D. California, 1964)
Saalfield Pub. Co. v. G. & C. Merriam Co.
238 F. 1 (Sixth Circuit, 1917)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
GS Holistic LLC v. Empire Smoke Shop2 LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gs-holistic-llc-v-empire-smoke-shop2-llc-wawd-2023.