Stensrud Incorporated v. Unknown Parties

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedFebruary 22, 2024
Docket2:24-cv-00334
StatusUnknown

This text of Stensrud Incorporated v. Unknown Parties (Stensrud Incorporated v. Unknown Parties) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stensrud Incorporated v. Unknown Parties, (D. Ariz. 2024).

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Stensrud Incorporated, et al., No. CV-24-00334-PHX-DJH

10 Plaintiffs, TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER 11 v.

12 Unknown Parties,

13 Defendant. 14 15 On February 20, 2024, Plaintiff Stensrud, Inc., (“Plaintiff Stensrud”) and Plaintiff 16 Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio a/k/a Bad Bunny (“Plaintiff Bad Bunny”) (collectively, 17 “Plaintiffs”) filed an “Ex Parte Motion for an Order to Show Cause on Motion for 18 Preliminary Injunction (“PI”) with Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”) and Order of 19 Seizure” (Doc. 7) (“the Ex Parte Motion”). The Motion argues that Defendants Various 20 John Does, Jane Does and ABC Companies (collectively, the “Unauthorized 21 Merchandisers”) travel from state to state while following Plaintiff Bad Bunny’s concerts 22 and selling unlicensed and infringing merchandise that bear the BAD BUNNY trademark, 23 likeness, and logos. Plaintiffs seek a TRO that restrains the Unauthorized Merchandisers 24 from doing so at Plaintiff Bad Bunny’s upcoming concerts at the Footprint Center in 25 Phoenix, Arizona on February 27 and 28, 2024 (the “Footprint Center Concerts”), as well 26 as all other concerts associated with Plaintiff Bad Bunny’s 2024 tour (the “2024 Concert 27 Tour”). 28 /// 1 The Court held TRO Hearing on Plaintiffs’ Ex Parte Motion on February 22, 20241 2 (Doc. 11) and found cause to partially grant the TRO. The Court granted Plaintiffs 3 injunctive relief as to the Footprint Center Concerts, but declined Plaintiffs’ request that 4 injunctive relief be effective nationwide. (Id.) The Court also set a Preliminary Injuncting 5 Hearing on February 29, 2024 at 10:00am. (Id.) The following is an Order formalizing 6 the Court’s oral ruling. 7 I. Background 8 The present TRO is based on Plaintiffs’ claim under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 9 1125(a), against the Unauthorized Merchandisers’ infringing use of the BAD BUNNY 10 trademark. (Doc. 1 at ¶¶ 15–26). Plaintiff Bad Bunny has used the BAD BUNNY 11 trademark, Registration No. 77245510, to identify his services as a musical performer since 12 2016. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 5, 10). To date, 50 million dollars worth of licensed BAD BUNNY 13 merchandise has been sold. (Id. at ¶ 9). Plaintiff Bad Bunny granted Plaintiff Stensrud the 14 exclusive rights to sell or license the sale of BAD BUNNY merchandise during the 2024 15 Concert Tour. (Id. at ¶ 9). The 2024 Concert Tour will take place at various locations 16 throughout the United States from February–May 2024. (Id. at 9–10). 17 The Unauthorized Merchandisers are independent “peddlers” and manufacturing 18 and distributing companies whose identities are unknown to Plaintiffs. (Id. at ¶ 7, 3–4). 19 Plaintiffs allege that, “based on what has occurred on this [2024 Concert Tour] and prior 20 tours” the Unauthorized Merchandisers will attempt to sell “imitation and inferior Bootleg 21 Merchandise” bearing the BAD BUNNY trademark outside of the venues at which Plaintiff 22 Bad Bunny will be performing, including at the Footprint Center Concerts. (Id. at ¶ 12, 7). 23 Plaintiffs further claim that the Unauthorized Merchandisers are conspiring to travel and 24 follow the other concerts associated with Plaintiff Bad Bunny’s 2024 Concert Tour. (Id. 25 at ¶ 3–4). 26 Plaintiffs’ Ex Parte Motion seeks a TRO and seizure order against the Unauthorized 27 Merchandisers to restrain their unlawful activity.

28 1 Plaintiffs were the only parties to attend the hearing. 1 II. Legal Standard 2 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 65(b) authorizes a court to issue an ex parte 3 temporary restraining order without written or oral notice to the adverse party or its 4 attorney only if the following threshold requirements are met: 5 (A) specific facts in an affidavit or a verified complaint clearly show that 6 immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to the movant before the adverse party can be heard in opposition; and 7 (B) the movant’s attorney certifies in writing any efforts made to give 8 notice and the reasons why it should not be required. 9 10 Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(b)(1)(A)–(B). While the Supreme Court has cautioned that there are 11 “extremely limited” circumstances that justify the issuance of an ex parte order, Granny 12 Goose Foods, Inc. v. Teamsters, 415 U.S. 423 (1974), such an order may be appropriate 13 “where notice to the adverse party is impossible either because the identity of the adverse 14 party is unknown or because a known party cannot be located in time for a hearing.” Reno 15 Air Racing Ass’n, Inc. v. McCord, 452 F.3d 1126, 1131 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Am. Can 16 Co. v. Mansukhani, 742 F.2d 314, 322 (7th Cir.1984)). An ex parte TRO is also proper 17 where notice to the defendant “would render fruitless the further prosecution of the action,” 18 such as by creating the risk that defendant would dispose evidence before the hearing if 19 given notice. Id. 20 When a movant has met the threshold requirements for an ex parte TRO, the court 21 must next consider whether the movant has met the substantial requirements for a TRO. 22 The standards governing temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions are 23 “substantially identical.” Washington v. Trump, 847 F.3d 1151, 1159 n.3 (9th Cir. 2017) 24 (citation omitted). Preliminary injunctive relief is an “extraordinary remedy never awarded 25 as of right.” Winter v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 24 (2008). To obtain a 26 preliminary injunction, a plaintiff must show: (1) a likelihood of success on the merits, (2) 27 a likelihood of irreparable harm if injunctive relief were denied, (3) that the equities weigh 28 in the plaintiff’s favor, and (4) that the public interest favors injunctive relief. Id. at 20. 1 The movant carries the burden of proof on each element of the test. See Los Angeles 2 Memorial Coliseum Comm’n v. National Football League, 634 F.2d 1197, 1203 (9th Cir. 3 1980). Relevant to this case, Section 1116 of the Lanham Act authorizes courts to grant 4 injunctions to prevent the violation of any right of the registrant of a mark registered in the 5 Trademark Office. 15 U.S.C. § 1116(a). 6 The Ninth Circuit employs a “sliding scale” approach to preliminary injunctions, 7 under which “the elements of the preliminary injunction test are balanced, so that a stronger 8 showing of one element may offset a weaker showing of another.” All for the Wild Rockies 9 v. Cottrell, 632 F.3d 1127, 1131 (9th Cir. 2011). The issuance of a preliminary injunction 10 may be appropriate when there are “‘serious questions going to the merits’ and a balance 11 of hardships that tips sharply towards the plaintiff . . . so long as the plaintiff also shows 12 that there is a likelihood of irreparable injury and that the injunction is in the public 13 interest.” Id. at 1135.

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Stensrud Incorporated v. Unknown Parties, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stensrud-incorporated-v-unknown-parties-azd-2024.