IP Law Daily, TRADEMARK NEWS: Cree shines light on alleged infringement and counterfeiting, (Feb 25, 2016)

By Peter Reap, J.D., LL.M.

In a suit filed in the federal district court in Los Angeles, LED lighting manufacturer Cree has accused JK Boonton Supply, its principal Yong Jin Zheng, and ten Doe defendants of using the Internet auction website eBay.com to sell and distribute counterfeit goods bearing Cree’s trademarks.

According to the complaint, Cree owns in excess of 25 word and stylized federally registered marks for use on its LED lighting and other electronics products. Through their eBay auction accounts, Defendants regularly and systematically advertised, marketed, distributed, and sold products using and bearing unauthorized Cree Trademarks.

On January 12, 2015, in its ongoing investigation of counterfeit sales of Cree products, Cree, through its investigator, purchased three purported CREE XML T6 LED 18650 Flashlight Focus Torch Zoom Lamp Lights from the defendants’ using Cree Trademarks on their eBay auction site under the seller ID “jkgiftsstore” for a cost of $29.91 charged to the PayPal electronic payment account of Cree’s investigator. The inspection of the purchased items confirmed that the items that the defendants sold to the investigator were in fact counterfeit Cree products.

The defendants’ actions were committed in bad faith and with the intent to dilute Cree’s marks, and to cause confusion and mistake, and to deceive the consuming public and the public at large as to the source, sponsorship and/or affiliation of the defendants, and/or the defendants’ counterfeit and unauthorized goods, Cree asserts. By their wrongful conduct, the defendants have traded upon and diminished Cree’s goodwill.

The complaint includes claims under the Lanham Act for trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition, and dilution. Cree also alleges unfair and fraudulent business practices in violation of a California statute. Cree requests injunctive relief, an asset freeze or constructive trust over the defendants’ assets, attorney fees, and damages, including the award of the defendants’ profits, $2 million per counterfeit mark per type of goods sold under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(c), and exemplary or punitive damages.

The complaint in Cree, Inc. v. JK Boonton Supply, LLC, Case No. 2:16-cv-01282, was filed February 24, 2016.

Attorneys: Christopher D. Johnson (Johnson & Pham, LLP) for Cree, Inc.

Companies: Cree, Inc.; JK Boonton Supply, LLC

News: Trademark CaliforniaNews