GS Holistic LLC v. Seattle Smoke Shop LLC

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedNovember 8, 2023
Docket3:23-cv-05181
StatusUnknown

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

Opinion

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

9 10 GS HOLISTIC, LLC, CASE NO. C23-5181JLR 11 Plaintiff, ORDER v. 12 SEATTLE SMOKE SHOP 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 Seattle Smoke Shop LLC d/b/a Seattle Smoke 18 Shop (“Seattle Smoke Shop”) and Shireen Aljebori (together, “Defendants”). (Mot. (Dkt. 19 # 12); see Prop. Judgment (Dkt. # 12-3).) Neither Defendant has appeared in this action, 20 and the Clerk has entered default against both Defendants. (See Dkt.; 6/23/23 Entry of 21 Default (Dkt. # 10).) The court has considered GS Holistic’s motion, the materials it 22 1 submitted in support of its motion, the relevant portions of the record, and the governing 2 law. Being fully advised, the court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part GS Holistic’s

3 motion for entry of default 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 Stündenglass 8 brand as “the premier manufacturer of glass infusers,” and has devoted significant time

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

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

19 describe each trademark).) GS Holistic asserts that consumers are willing to pay more 20 for “the recognized quality and innovation associated with the Stündenglass Marks.” 21 (Compl. ¶ 20.) Thus, genuine Stündenglass glass infusers are priced at $599.95, while 22 non-Stündenglass infusers sell for between $199.00 and $600.00. (Id.) 1 Defendant Seattle Smoke Shop is a Washington LLC that has its principal place of 2 business in Washington. (Id. ¶ 5.) Defendant Shireen Aljebori is a resident and citizen of

3 Washington. (Id. ¶ 6.) GS Holistic asserts that Defendants sold counterfeit products 4 bearing the Stündenglass Marks. (Id. ¶¶ 24-27.) On January 30, 2023, according to GS 5 Holistic, its investigator visited Seattle Smoke Shop’s location; observed that the shop 6 had “an excess” of glass infusers that displayed the Stündenglass Marks; purchased a 7 glass infuser “with a Stündenglass Mark affixed to it” for $550.00; and determined the 8 glass infuser was a counterfeit product that displayed “the Infringing Marks.” (Id. ¶ 29;

9 see also id. ¶ 25 (defining the “Infringing Marks” as “reproductions, counterfeits, copies, 10 and/or colorable imitations of one or more of the Stündenglass Marks”).) 11 GS Holistic filed its complaint on March 6, 2023. (See id. at 1.) It alleges claims 12 under the Lanham Act against both Defendants for counterfeiting and trademark 13 infringement in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1114 and for false designation of origin and

14 unfair competition in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). (Id. ¶¶ 51-68.) Among other 15 relief, it seeks damages, costs of suit, a permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants 16 from continuing to infringe its Stündenglass trademarks, and an order requiring 17 Defendants to deliver all infringing products to GS Holistic for destruction. (Id. at 18 12-14.)

19 GS Holistic served Seattle Smoke Shop and Ms. Aljebori on April 13, 2023. (See 20 Service Affs. (Dkt. ## 7-8).) The Clerk entered default against both Defendants on June 21 23, 2023. (6/23/23 Entry of Default.) GS Holistic filed this motion for entry of default 22 judgment on October 31, 2023. (Mot.) 1 III. ANALYSIS 2 Below, the court sets forth the relevant legal standard and then evaluates GS

3 Holistic’s motion for entry of default judgment. 4 A. Legal Standard 5 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2) authorizes the court to enter default 6 judgment against a defaulting defendant upon the plaintiff’s motion. Fed. R. Civ. P. 7 55(a), (b)(2). After default is entered, well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint, 8 except those related to damages, are considered admitted and are sufficient to establish a

9 defendant’s liability. TeleVideo Sys., Inc. v. Heidenthal, 826 F.2d 915, 917-18 (9th Cir. 10 1987) (citing Geddes v. United Fin. Grp., 559 F.2d 557, 560 (9th Cir. 1977)). 11 Entry of default judgment is left to the court’s sound discretion. Aldabe v. Aldabe, 12 616 F.2d 1089, 1092 (9th Cir. 1980). In exercising its discretion, the court considers 13 seven factors (the “Eitel factors”): (1) the possibility of prejudice to the plaintiff if relief

14 is denied; (2) the substantive merits of the plaintiff’s claims; (3) the sufficiency of the 15 claims raised in the complaint; (4) the sum of money at stake in relationship to the 16 defendant’s behavior; (5) the possibility of a dispute concerning material facts; 17 (6) whether default was due to excusable neglect; and (7) the preference for decisions on 18 the merits when reasonably possible. Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471-72 (9th Cir.

19 1986). After the court determines that default judgment is appropriate, it must then 20 determine the amount and character of the relief that should be awarded. See TeleVideo, 21 826 F.2d at 917-18. 22 1 B. Whether the Eitel Factors Favor Default Judgment 2 The court preliminarily determines that default judgment is warranted in this case

3 because, on balance, the Eitel factors weigh in favor of such judgment. The court 4 discusses each factor in turn. 5 1. Possibility of Prejudice to Plaintiff 6 The first Eitel factor considers whether the plaintiff will suffer prejudice if default 7 judgment is not entered. See PepsiCo, Inc., v. Cal. Sec. Cans, 238 F. Supp. 2d 1172, 8 1177 (C.D. Cal. 2002). Without default judgment, GS Holistic will suffer prejudice

9 because it will “be denied the right to judicial resolution” of its claims and will be 10 “without other recourse for recovery.” Elektra Entm’t Grp. Inc. v. Crawford, 226 F.R.D. 11 388, 392 (C.D. Cal. 2005). Thus, the first Eitel factor weighs in favor of entering default 12 judgment. 13 2. Substantive Merits and Sufficiency of the Complaint

14 The second and third Eitel factors—the substantive merits of the plaintiff’s claim 15 and the sufficiency of the plaintiff’s complaint—are frequently analyzed together.

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GS Holistic LLC v. Seattle Smoke Shop LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gs-holistic-llc-v-seattle-smoke-shop-llc-wawd-2023.