Sobek Therapeutics, LLC v. Svads Holdings SA

303 F.R.D. 409, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146354, 2014 WL 5175187
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedOctober 14, 2014
DocketCase No. 8:14-cv-1617-T-33TBM
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 303 F.R.D. 409 (Sobek Therapeutics, LLC v. Svads Holdings SA) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sobek Therapeutics, LLC v. Svads Holdings SA, 303 F.R.D. 409, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146354, 2014 WL 5175187 (M.D. Fla. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER

VIRGINIA M. HERNANDEZ COVINGTON, District Judge.

This cause is before the Court pursuant to Defendant Shasun USA, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss “as an improper party under Rule 12(b)(6)” (Doc. # 12) and supporting memorandum of law (Doc. # 13), both filed on September 10, 2014. Also before the Court is SVADS Holdings SA’s Motion to Dismiss for insufficient service under Rule 12(b)(5) (Doe. # 14) and supporting memorandum of law (Doe. # 15), also filed on September 10, 2014. On September 29, 2014, Plaintiff So-bek Therapeutics, LLC filed a response in opposition to the Motions to Dismiss. (Doc. #24). On October 9, 2014, with leave of Court, Defendants filed their Reply in Support of Defendants’ Pending Motions to Dismiss. (Doc. #31). For the reasons that follow, the Court denies the Motions.

I. Background

This case involves ownership rights in the trademark “NUPRIN” for “Analgesics; Ibuprofen for use as an oral analgesic; Oral analgesics,” which was initially issued to non-party Advanced Healthcare Distributors LLC on April 10, 2007. (Doc. # 1 at ¶ 10). Advanced Healthcare Distributors LLC “stopped selling products carrying the NUP-RIN mark, stopped advertising NUPRIN, and discontinued use of the NUPRIN mark with no intent to resume use, thereby resulting in abandonment.” (Id. at ¶ 11). In March of 2010, Advanced Healthcare Distributors LLC assigned all right, title, and interest in the NUPRIN mark to non-party SCOLR Pharma, Inc. (Id. at ¶ 13). “Because the NUPRIN mark ... had been abandoned by Advanced Healthcare Distributors LLC, no valid trademark rights were ever obtained by SCOLR Pharma, Inc.” (Id. at ¶ 14). In addition, “SCOLR Pharma, Inc. never used the NUPRIN mark in eommei’ce ... resulting in further abandonment by SCOLR Pharma, Inc.” (Id. at ¶ 15).

Sobek Therapeutics, LLC, is a Florida limited liability corporation with its principal place of business in Tampa, Florida, “dedicated to developing and launching pharmaceutical and dietary supplement products focused on pain prevention and relief.” (Id. at ¶ 2). On May 2, 2013, “because the NUP-RIN mark had not been used in commerce for more than seven years and had been abandoned, Sobek filed an application to register NUPRIN under 15 U.S.C. § 1051(b) based on its bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce.” (Id. at ¶ 17).

The United States Patent and Trademark Office declined to grant Sobek’s application but provided Sobek with a 60 day period to file additional responses. (Id. at ¶ 18). On October 8, 2013, SCOLR Pharma, Inc. filed an affidavit averring that the NUPRIN mark was not currently in use “because the goods were being reformulated.” (Id. at ¶ 19). The USPTO “issued a post-registration office action which declined to accept SCOLR Pharma, Inc.’s claim of excusable nonuse but allowed additional time to submit further information explaining its nonuse” of the mark. (Id. at ¶ 20).

However, in December of 2013, SCOLR Pharma, Inc. assigned its right, title, and interest in the NUPRIN mark to SVADS. (Id. at ¶ 22). In May of 2014, non-party Shasun Pharmaceuticals Ltd. “announced that it had acquired global rights to the NUPRIN trademark and that it would be developing and commercializing an Ibuprofen 12 hour extended release OTC (over the counter) tablet” under the NUPRIN mark. (Id. at ¶ 23). In June of 2014, SVADS filed a [411]*411new application to register NUPRIN under 15 U.S.C. § 1051(b). (Id. at ¶ 24). Thereafter, Sobek sought further review of its application by the USPTO. (Id. at ¶ 27).

With competing claims being litigated in the USPTO, Defendants “SVADS and Sha-sun sent a demand letter to Sobek in Florida, in which they claimed to own the NUPRIN trademark Registration No. 3226852 and the common law rights to the mark and demanded that Sobek not use the term NUPRIN in commerce associated with the goods listed in Sobek’s application.” (Id. at ¶ 28).

On July 1, 2014, Sobek filed a three count Complaint against SVADS and Shasun for a declaratory judgment of noninfringement and a finding of no unfair competition (count one), for cancellation of U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3226852 (count two), and for a declaratory judgment of right to register the NUPRIN mark (count three). (See Doc. # 1). In response, Shasun filed a Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), Fed. R.Civ.P., arguing that it is an improper party to this suit. (Doc. #12). While SVADS filed a Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(5), Fed.R.Civ.P., alleging improper service. (Doc. # 14). The Court denies both Motions to Dismiss as follows.

II. Shasun’s Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss

On a motion to dismiss, this Court accepts as true all the allegations in the complaint and construes them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Jackson v. BellSouth Telecomms., 372 F.3d 1250, 1262 (11th Cir. 2004). Further, this Court favors the plaintiff with all reasonable inferences from the allegations in the complaint. Stephens v. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., 901 F.2d 1571, 1573 (11th Cir. 1990) (“On a motion to dismiss, the facts stated in [the] complaint and all reasonable inferences therefrom are taken as trae.”).

However, the Supreme Court explains that:

While a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations, a plaintiffs obligation to provide the grounds of his entitlement to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do. Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.

Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (internal citations omitted). In addition, courts are not “bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation.” Papasan v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 286, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986). Furthermore, “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere eonclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

Here, attaching “a publicly viewable USP-TO registration file for the NUPRIN trademark” to its Motion to Dismiss, Shasun seeks dismissal under the argument that it has “no ownership interest in the NUPRIN trademark.” (Doc. # 12 at 4-1516; Doc. # 13 at 2). However, as correctly noted by Sobek, the Court’s analysis is confined to the four corners of the Complaint.

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303 F.R.D. 409, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146354, 2014 WL 5175187, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sobek-therapeutics-llc-v-svads-holdings-sa-flmd-2014.