J. Atkins Holdings Ltd. v. English Discounts, Inc.

729 F. Supp. 945, 1990 WL 3868
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 27, 1990
Docket87 Civ. 6109 (PNL)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 729 F. Supp. 945 (J. Atkins Holdings Ltd. v. English Discounts, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J. Atkins Holdings Ltd. v. English Discounts, Inc., 729 F. Supp. 945, 1990 WL 3868 (S.D.N.Y. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LEVAL, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

This is an action for trademark infringement dealing with the importation and sale in the United States of trademarked goods produced abroad. Such “parallel imports” *947 or so-ealled “grey-market” goods have been the subject of frequent litigation in recent years.

The complaint seeks declaratory, injunctive and monetary relief for trademark infringement. The plaintiff is J. Atkins Holdings Limited (“Atkins”), a Massachusetts corporation. The sole remaining defendant is Sixth Avenue Electronics City (“Sixth Avenue”), a New York corporation, which owns and operates a retail stereo and electronics store at 1024 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. 1 Sixth Avenue has filed counterclaims.

Plaintiff J. Atkins Holdings, Ltd. moves pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. Rule 56 for summary judgment. Defendant Sixth Avenue cross-moves (1) to dismiss the complaint pursuant to F.R.Civ.P. Rule 12(b)(6) on the grounds that the plaintiff Atkins is not the real party in interest and lacks standing to bring this action; (2) for partial summary judgment dismissing Atkins’ claim for trademark infringement and related state law violations insofar as it seeks relief for infringements prior to July 2, 1987; and (3) for summary judgment that Atkins has no right to invoke the authority of the United States Customs Service to bar importation of “B & W” trademarked goods under the Tariff Act, 19 U.S.C. § 1526.

BACKGROUND

The amended complaint alleges that Atkins, a Massachusetts Corporation, is the owner by assignment of the distinctive trademarks “B & W” and “B & W DM” used in connection with the sale of stereo loudspeakers in the United States. The “B & W” mark was registered on the Principal Register as Trademark Registration No. 1,419,023 on December 2, 1986. The “B & W DM” mark was registered on July 27, 1976 under Trademark Registration No. 1,044,689.

The history of the B & W marks is as follows: Until March 31, 1987, the English manufacturer of the loudspeakers, B & W Loudspeakers, Ltd. (“B & W-UK”) owned the marks and licensed them to Misobanke International, Inc. (“Misobanke”). Misobanke distributed loudspeakers bearing the B & W marks in the United States under a 1975 licensing agreement through its unincorporated United States division, doing business under the name of B & W Loudspeakers of America (“B & W-America”). Misobanke had been the exclusive distributor of B & W trademarked goods in the United States since November 1975. It is undisputed that Misobanke’s only relationship with B & W-UK is defined by the 1975 distributorship agreement.

On April 1, 1987, a Canadian company named Equity Investments Corp. (“Equity Investments”) purchased (for significant consideration) the exclusive rights to the United States distributorship of B & W trademark goods. This was effected by Misobanke’s assignment of its distribution agreement with B & W-UK to Equity Investments and by Misobanke’s assignment of its U.S. division — B & W-America — to Equity International, Inc. (“Equity International”), a Canadian corporation under common control with Equity Investments. Equity Investments sublicensed its American rights to Equity International. Thereafter the day-to-day business operations relating to the sale, promotion and distribution of B & W loudspeakers and goods in the United States were handled exclusively by the B & W-America division of Equity International. It is undisputed that B & W-America’s employees and trade practices remained under Equity International exactly as they had been when it had been a division of Misobanke. Like Misobanke, the Equity group of companies is related to B & W-UK only through the distributorship agreement.

Plaintiff J. Atkins Holding, Ltd. (“Atkins”) was formed as a Massachusetts Corporation in or about March 1987. It is related to Equity Investments and Equity International through Joseph Atkins, who *948 is the sole shareholder of Atkins, and is also the President and director of Equity International, and 50% owner of Equity Investments.

On July 2,1987, B & W-UK assigned the United States-registered trademarks to Atkins pursuant to an assignment agreement (the “Assignment Agreement”) also signed by Equity International and Equity Investments. The Assignment Agreement reflects that Misobanke’s right to distribute goods bearing the B & W marks had been assigned to Equity Investments which in turn assigned its rights to Equity International. The Assignment Agreement assigns the United States federal registrations for B & W marks to Atkins together with the good-will of the business in the United States. The Assignment Agreement also obligates Atkins to enter into a license agreement with B & W-America, subject to approval by B & W-UK, for the use of the marks in the United States. It provides that in the event the distributorship agreement is terminated so that B & W-America is no longer the exclusive distributor of B & W products in the United States, then the marks shall revert to B & W-UK. Thereafter, by a license agreement dated October 7, 1987, Atkins granted B & W-America exclusive responsibility for the sale and distribution of B & W trademark goods in the United States and exclusive control over advertising, quality control, and the administration of warranty and service programs.

Atkins is the registered owner of the two “B & W” marks, as certified by the United States Patent Office. Atkins has registered the marks with the United States Customs Service (the “Customs Service”). It petitioned the Customs Service and received an exclusion order on January 4, 1988 under 19 U.S.C. § 1526, that bars the importation of all goods bearing the B & W trademarks without the consent of Atkins. 2

The amended complaint alleges that Atkins’ licensee, B & W-America, and its predecessors have been since 1976 the ex-elusive United States distributors of loudspeakers manufactured by B & W-UK. Amended Complaint ¶ 5. In that regard, B & W-America has used and widely promoted goods under the B & W marks, advertising through promotional brochures, dealer and consumer trade shows, seminars and training sessions, investing several million dollars for such purposes. Amended Complaint IT 6, 8. B & W-America has also caused instruction booklets and warranty cards to be placed into cartons for its B & W-brand loudspeakers sold in the United States. Amended Complaint IT 9. Atkins and B & W-America have also established an extensive network of dealers authorized to distribute and sell “B & W” products. The dealers are carefully selected for the quality of their salespeople and sales space and their geographical location.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
729 F. Supp. 945, 1990 WL 3868, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-atkins-holdings-ltd-v-english-discounts-inc-nysd-1990.