Talavera Hair Products, Inc. v. Taizhou Yunsung Electrical Appliance Co., LTD.

District Court, S.D. California·Decided March 4, 2021·No. 3:18-cv-00823·Unknown

Opinion

TALAVERA HAIR PRODUCTS, INC., a Case No.: 18-CV-823 JLS (JLB) Nevada corporation, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND Plaintiff, DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S v. MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT APPLIANCE CO., LTD., a business (ECF No. 107) entity; and THE INDIVIDUALS, IDENTIFIED ON EXHIBIT “1,” Defendants.

Presently before the Court is Plaintiff Talavera Hair Products, Inc.’s (“Plaintiff”) Motion for Partial Summary Judgment against the only remaining non-defaulting defendant, Defendant Taizhou Yunsung Electrical Appliance Co., Ltd. (“Defendant”) (“Mot.,” ECF No. 107). The Court took the matter under submission without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7.1(d)(1). See ECF No. 108. Having carefully considered Plaintiff’s arguments, the evidence, and the relevant law, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the Motion, as set forth below. / / / “Plaintiff sells a unique and revolutionary patented product under the federally registered trademark Split-Ender® that quickly and easily trims split ends from hair.” See ECF No. 1 (“Compl.”) ¶ 13. “Plaintiff owns copyrights, trademark rights, and patent rights regarding its Split-Ender® product.” Id. ¶ 16. On April 30, 2018, Plaintiff filed the instant litigation against Defendant and several other entities for copyright infringement pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq.; unfair competition pursuant to the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a); trademark infringement pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1114; and infringement of Plaintiff’s U.S. Patents Nos. 6,588,108, 7,040,021, and 9,587,811 pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271(a). See generally Compl. On April 19, 2019, Defendant filed an answer to the Complaint. See generally ECF No. 66. The remaining defendants defaulted. See generally Docket. On May 3, 2018, Plaintiff filed an ex parte application for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”), see ECF No. 9, which the Court granted on May 10, 2018, see ECF No. 10. On March 16, 2020, Plaintiff moved for default and/or summary judgment against the defaulted defendants, see ECF No. 98, which motion subsequently was refiled and is currently pending, see ECF No. 111 (“Mot. for Default J.”). On July 17, 2020, Plaintiff filed the present Motion. See generally ECF No. 107. Defendant did not file an opposition. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a), a party may move for summary judgment as to a claim or defense or part of a claim or defense. Summary judgment is appropriate where the Court is satisfied that there is “no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986). Material facts are those that may affect the outcome of the case. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). A genuine dispute of material fact exists only if “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Id. When the Court considers the / / / evidence presented by the parties, “[t]he evidence of the non-movant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor.” Id. at 255. The initial burden of establishing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact falls on the moving party. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323. The moving party may meet this burden by identifying the “portions of ‘the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,’” that show an absence of dispute regarding a material fact. Id. When a plaintiff seeks summary judgment as to an element for which it bears the burden of proof, “it must come forward with evidence which would entitle it to a directed verdict if the evidence went uncontroverted at trial.” C.A.R. Transp. Brokerage Co. v. Darden Rests., Inc., 213 F.3d 474, 480 (9th Cir. 2000) (quoting Houghton v. South, 965 F.2d 1532, 1536 (9th Cir. 1992)). “This is true, even when the party against whom the motion for summary judgment is directed has not filed any opposition.” Cristobal v. Siegel, 26 F.3d 1488, 1495 (9th Cir. 1994) (citing Sheet Metal Workers’ Int’l Ass’n. v. Nat’l Labor Relations Bd., 716 F.2d 1249, 1254 (9th Cir. 1983). “[W]here no evidence is presented in opposition to the motion, summary judgment should not be granted if the evidence in support of the motion is insufficient.” Hoover v. Switlik Parachute Co., 663 F.2d 964, 967 (9th Cir. 1981) (citations omitted). Plaintiff incorporates by reference the evidence in support of its Motion for Default Judgment and “seeks partial summary judgment against [D]efendant” as to the following issues: 1. “The product packaging in issue infringes plaintiff’s registered copyright”; 2. “The owner’s manuals in issue infringe plaintiff’s registered copyright”; 3. “The product packaging in issue infringes plaintiff’s trademark rights”; 4. “The products in issue infringe plaintiff’s patent rights”; 5. “The products in issue were sold on Amazon.com and eBay.com by the 41 Defaulted Defendants”; and / / / 6. “[Defendant] owns trademark registrations for the mark ‘FASIZ’ in many different countries (including the United States and Brazil).” Mot. at 1; see also ECF No. 107-1 (“Mot. Mem.”) at 2. The Court will address the fifth issue in ruling on the separately briefed and pending Motion for Default Judgment. Moreover, the Court will leave the matter of whether Defendant was the manufacturer or source of any of the infringing products sold on Amazon.com or eBay to be resolved at trial, as Plaintiff has not come forward with evidence on this issue.1 The Court will now address each remaining issue in turn. I. Copyright Infringement “In order to establish copyright infringement, a plaintiff must show: (1) ownership of a valid copyright; and (2) that the defendant violated the copyright owner’s exclusive rights under the Copyright Act.” Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 508 F.3d 1146, 1159 (9th Cir. 2007). A copyright registration is “prima facie evidence of the validity of the copyright and the facts stated in the certificate.” 17 U.S.C. § 410(c); see also S.O.S., Inc. v. Payday, Inc., 886 F.2d 1081, 1085 (9th Cir. 1989). To establish copying, the plaintiff must show either: “(1) the two works in question are substantially similar and the defendant had access to the subject work; or (2) that the works are strikingly similar.” Malibu Textiles, Inc. v. Label Lane Int’l, Inc., 922 F.3d 946, 952 (9th Cir. 2019) (citations omitted). “In assessing whether particular works are substantially similar, o

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Talavera Hair Products, Inc. v. Taizhou Yunsung Electrical Appliance Co., LTD., (S.D. Cal. 2021).

Talavera Hair Products, Inc. v. Taizhou Yunsung Electrical Appliance Co., LTD. (Talavera Hair Products, Inc. v. Taizhou Yunsung Electrical Appliance Co., LTD.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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