Kurt S. Adler, Inc. v. World Bazaars, Inc.

897 F. Supp. 92, 36 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1682, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11702, 1995 WL 512114
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedAugust 16, 1995
Docket95 Civ. 5610 (PKL)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 897 F. Supp. 92 (Kurt S. Adler, Inc. v. World Bazaars, 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
Kurt S. Adler, Inc. v. World Bazaars, Inc., 897 F. Supp. 92, 36 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1682, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11702, 1995 WL 512114 (S.D.N.Y. 1995).

Opinion

*93 OPINION AND ORDER

LEISURE, District Judge:

Plaintiff Kurt S. Adler, Inc. (“Adler”) seeks a preliminary injunction against defendant World Bazaars, Inc. (“WBI”), on the ground that WBI’s “Musical Bubble Blowing Santa” Christmas tree ornament infringes plaintiff Kurt S. Adler, Inc.’s (“Adler’s”) copyright and trade dress rights in Adler’s “Christmas Bubble Santa” Christmas tree ornament. On July 27, 1995, this Court issued a temporary restraining order against WBI, provided that Adler post a $100,000 bond, which Adler did the following day. On August 10-11, 1995 and August 15,1995, this Court held a hearing on Adler’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

For the reasons stated below, Adler’s motion for a preliminary injunction is granted, effective immediately, provided that Adler posts a bond of $435,000, by Friday, August 18, 1995, at 5:00 P.M.

DISCUSSION

In this Circuit:

In order to obtain a preliminary injunction, the moving party must show (1) the likelihood of irreparable injury, and (2) either (a) likelihood of success on the merits, or (b) sufficiently serious questions going to the merits and a balance of hardships tipping decidedly in the movant’s favor.

Tough Traveler, Ltd. v. Outbound Products, 60 F.3d 964, 967 (2d Cir.1995) (citations omitted). Mindful of this standard, the Court first considers Adler’s entitlement to a preliminary injunction on its claim of copyright infringement, then on its claim of trade dress infringement.

I. Copyright Infringement.

“A plaintiff with a valid copyright proves infringement by demonstrating that: (1) the defendant has actually copied the plaintiffs work; and (2) the copying is illegal because a substantial similarity exists between the defendant’s work and the protectible elements of plaintiffs.” Fisher-Price, Inc. v. Well-Made Toy Manufacturing Corp., 25 F.3d 119, 122-23 (2d Cir.1994) (second emphasis added) (citation omitted) (“Well-Made Toy”). For purposes of this motion for a preliminary injunction only, WBI has not disputed the fact that Adler owns a registered copyright in the Christmas Bubble Santa. Memorandum of Law in Opposition to the Motion for Preliminary Injunction and in Support of the Cross-Motion to Increase the Bond (“Opp.Mem.”), at 2. The Court therefore proceeds directly to the issue of copying.

The plaintiff may prove copying ... by showing that the defendant had access to the plaintiffs work and that the works are similar enough to support an inference that the defendant copied the plaintiffs work.... In the context of deciding whether the defendant copied at all (as distinguished from whether it illegally copied), “similarity” relates to the entire work, not just the protectible elements.

Well-Made Toy, 25 F.3d at 123 (emphasis in original) (citation omitted).

In this case, with respect to access, the “paint master” (a full-color, three-dimensional model) of Adler’s Christmas Bubble Santa was on display in Adler’s New York showroom, which is open to members of the trade, by mid-December 1994; about the same time, a second paint master was sent to Hong Kong, where it was shown to potential manufacturers. The paint master that remained in the United States was later on display, and photos of it were available, at the Beckman’s Gift Show in Dallas, Texas, on January 7-10, 1995, and at the most important show of the year in the trade, the International Gift and Accessories Market in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 11-20, 1995. See Testimony of H. Adler, August 10, 1995. WBI participated in each of these shows. See PX 58 (directory for Dallas show); PX 59 (directory for January-Atlanta show); Testimony of Gerald Mignacca (recounting that WBI’s main buyer, who traveled to Taipei in January 1995, spent several days at the January-Atlanta show). WBI could have produced its Santa, as it did, by July 1995, had it first observed and copied Adler’s Santa as late as January 1995. “Access is only an opportunity to copy.” Fisher-Price Toys Div. of Quaker Oats Co. v. My-Toy Co., 385 F.Supp. 218, 220 (S.D.N.Y.1974) (“My-Toy *94 Co.”). The Court finds access here, based on WBI’s reasonable opportunity to copy Adler’s Christmas Bubble Santa.

Turning then to the issue of whether WBI exploited this opportunity, WBI’s Musical Bubble Blowing Santa “bears an uncanny resemblance,” Well-Made Toy, 25 F.3d at 123, in overall appearance, to Adler’s Christmas Bubble Santa. For example, each of the Santas has a pear shaped head, a red underlip emphasized, an upcurving mustache, a skin tone bubble nose, rounded boots, a similarly shaded green basin held in front of Santa, and a hooked bubble wand held in Santa’s right hand. Compare PX 76 (WBI’s Santa) with PX 77 (Adler’s Santa). WBI would have the Court believe that the two Santas were independently conceived within a few weeks of each other, in October (Adler) and November (WBI) 1994, respectively. However, there is no dispute that Adler had a paint master of its Santa by December 1994, whereas WBI had neither a paint master nor another form of sample of its Santa until some four (4) months later, in April 1995. At most, one month of this disparity is accounted for by the fact that WBI stalled its bubble blowing Santa project between mid-January and mid-February 1995, while it conducted a patent search in response to a cease-and-desist letter from Adler’s counsel, in connection with another product, see DX D; Testimony of Gerald Mignaeca, August 15, 1995. Another month is, of course, accounted for by Adler’s alleged one-month headstart in conception and development. But, WBI has not adequately explained the remaining two-month disparity. Adding two months to WBI’s claimed November 1994 conception date would yield a conception date in January 1995, when WBI indisputably had access to Adler’s Santa. In addition, although WBI claims that it had chosen, by Fall 1994, to enter the market for bubble blowing Christmas tree ornaments with a bubble blowing Santa Claus ornament, WBI’s supplier provided it, instead, with a sample of a bubble blowing teddy bear ornament, 1 to display at the Atlanta show in January 1995. Finally, WBI did not offer the testimony of any of the three persons that it claims were involved in the conception or artistic design of its Santa; nor did it offer the testimony of WBI’s main buyer, to disclaim actual copying. 2 Although these points gravely undermine WBI’s claim of independent creation, the Court finds fatal to WBI on this point an inspection of the two Santas themselves. Compare PX 76 (WBI’s Santa) with PX 77 (Adler’s Santa). In the Court’s view, this examination reveals “such substantial similarity [between the two works] that no explanation other than copying is reasonably possible.” Novelty Textile Mills, Inc. v. Joan Fabrics Corp.,

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897 F. Supp. 92, 36 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1682, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11702, 1995 WL 512114, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kurt-s-adler-inc-v-world-bazaars-inc-nysd-1995.