Deckers V Reliable Knitting Works - Complaint
Deckers V Reliable Knitting Works - Complaint
Deckers V Reliable Knitting Works - Complaint
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
Case 2:18-cv-01227
2:18-cv-01217 Document 1 Filed 02/14/18 Page 2 of 23 Page ID #:2
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
Case 2:18-cv-01227
2:18-cv-01217 Document 1 Filed 02/14/18 Page 3 of 23 Page ID #:3
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
Case 2:18-cv-01227
2:18-cv-01217 Document 1 Filed 02/14/18 Page 4 of 23 Page ID #:4
1 11. In 2000, UGG® boots were first featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things®
2 where Oprah emphatically declared on national television how much she
3 “LOOOOOVES her UGG boots.”The popularity of UGG® brand footwear has grown
4 exponentially since then with celebrities including Kate Hudson and Sarah Jessica
5 Parker among a myriad of others regularly donning them. UGG® sheepskin boots
6 have become a high fashion luxury item and can be found on fashion runways around
7 the world.
8 12. Deckers’UGG® products are distributed and sold to consumers through
9 authorized retailers throughout the United States at point-of-sale and on the Internet,
10 including through its UGG® Concept Stores and its website www.ugg.com.
11 B. Defendants’Infringing Activities
12 13. The present lawsuit arises from Defendants’design, manufacture,
13 distribution, advertisement, marketing, offering for sale, and sale of footwear which
14 infringe upon Deckers’rights to the “Bailey Button Trade Dress”and D599,999 Patent
15 (“Accused Products”)
16 14. Upon information and belief, Defendant Reliable Knitting manufactures,
17 designs, advertises, markets, distributes, offers for sale, and/or sells footwear and/or
18 slippers for men, women, and children under the brand name “MUK LUKS.”
19 15. Upon information and belief, Defendant Reliable Knitting has designed,
20 manufactured, advertised, marketed, distributed, offered for sale, and/or sold Accused
21 Products, exemplar shown below, to various retailers, wholesalers, and distributors
22 nationwide and within this judicial district as well as direct to consumers, including via
23 its website www.muk-luks.com, which is accessible to consumers nationwide,
24 including those within this judicial district.
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
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1 i Overlapping of front and rear panels on the lateral side of the boot shaft;
2 i Curved top edges on the overlapping panels;
3 i Exposed fleece-type lining edging the overlapping panels and top of the
4 boot shaft; and
5 i One or more buttons (depending on the height of the boot) prominently
6 featured on the lateral side of the boot shaft adjacent the overlapping panels
7 (hereinafter “Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress”).
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15 23. The Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress, which is a composite of the above-
16 referenced features, is non-functional in its entirety, visually distinctive, and is unique
17 in the footwear industry.
18 24. The design of the Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress is neither essential to
19 its use or purpose nor does it affect the cost or quality of the boot. There are numerous
20 other designs available that are equally feasible and efficient, none of which
21 necessitate copying or imitating the Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress. The aforesaid
22 combination of features provides no cost advantages to the manufacturer or utilitarian
23 advantages to the consumer. These features, in combination, serve only to render
24 Deckers’UGG® Bailey Button boots distinct and recognizable as goods originating
25 from Deckers’UGG® brand.
26 25. The Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress is an original design by Deckers and
27 has achieved a high degree of consumer recognition and secondary meaning, which
28 serves to identify Deckers as the source of footwear featuring said trade dress.
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
Case 2:18-cv-01227
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1 26. The Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress is one of the most well-recognized
2 and commercially successful styles of Deckers’UGG® brand of footwear, having been
3 featured on Deckers’advertising and promotional materials as well as in various trade
4 publications. Furthermore, the Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress has been featured in
5 connection with various celebrities, has received a large volume of unsolicited media
6 attention, and has graced the pages of many popular magazines nationwide and
7 internationally.
8 27. Deckers has spent substantial time, effort, and money in designing,
9 developing, advertising, promoting, and marketing the UGG® brand and its line of
10 footwear embodying the Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress. Deckers spends millions of
11 dollars annually on advertising of UGG® products, which include products bearing the
12 Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress.
13 28. Deckers has sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of UGG®
14 products bearing the Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress.
15 29. Due to its long use, extensive sales, and significant advertising and
16 promotional activities, Deckers’Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress has achieved
17 widespread acceptance and recognition among the consuming public and trade
18 throughout the United States.
19 30. There are numerous other boot designs in the footwear industry, none of
20 which necessitate copying or imitating the Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress. However,
21 due to the popularity and consumer recognition achieved by the Bailey Button boot,
22 said design has often been the subject of infringement by third-parties, including
23 Defendants.
24 31. Deckers is informed and believes and herein alleges that Defendants are
25 competitors and have introduced Accused Products into the stream of commerce in an
26 effort to exploit Deckers’reputation in the market established in the UGG® Bailey
27 Button Boot.
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
Case 2:18-cv-01227
2:18-cv-01217 Document 1 Filed 02/14/18 Page 8 of 23 Page ID #:8
1 32. The Accused Products produced, distributed, advertised and offered for
2 sale by Defendants are boots bear confusingly similar reproductions of the Bailey
3 Button Boot Trade Dress, such as to cause a likelihood of confusion as to the source,
4 sponsorship or approval by Deckers of Defendants’products.
5 33. Defendants’use of Deckers’Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress is without
6 Deckers’permission or authority and in total disregard of Deckers’rights to control its
7 intellectual property.
8 34. Defendants’use of Deckers’Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress is likely to
9 lead to and result in confusion, mistake or deception, and is likely to cause the public
10 to believe that Defendants’products are produced, sponsored, authorized, or licensed
11 by or are otherwise connected or affiliated with Deckers, all to the detriment of
12 Deckers.
13 35. Deckers has no adequate remedy at law.
14 36. In light of the foregoing, Deckers is entitled to injunctive relief
15 prohibiting Defendants from using Deckers’Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress, or any
16 designs confusingly similar thereto, and to recover all damages, including attorneys’
17 fees, that Deckers has sustained and will sustain, and all gains, profits and advantages
18 obtained by Defendants as a result of their infringing acts alleged above in an amount
19 not yet known, as well as the costs of this action.
20 SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF
21 (Trade Dress Infringement under California Common Law)
22 37. Deckers incorporates herein by reference the averments of the preceding
23 paragraphs as though fully set forth herein.
24 38. Defendants’infringement of the Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress
25 constitutes common law trade dress infringement in violation of the common law of
26 the state of California.
27 39. Defendants’unauthorized use of the Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress has
28 caused and is likely to cause confusion as to the source of Defendants’products, all to
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
Case 2:18-cv-01227
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1 associates, attorneys, and all persons acting by, through, or in concert with any of them
2 from using Deckers’intellectual property, including, but not limited to:
3 a. manufacturing, importing, advertising, marketing, promoting,
4 supplying, distributing, offering for sale, or selling the Accused Products or any other
5 products which bear Deckers’Bailey Button Boot Trade Dress and/or any designs
6 confusingly similar thereto;
7 b. manufacturing, importing, advertising, marketing, promoting,
8 supplying, distributing, offering for sale, or selling the Accused Products or any other
9 products which infringe the D599,999 Patent and/or the overall appearance thereof;
10 c. engaging in any other activity constituting unfair competition with
11 Deckers, or acts and practices that deceive consumers, the public, and/or trade,
12 including without limitation, the use of designations and design elements used or
13 owned by or associated with Deckers; and
14 d. committing any other act which falsely represents or which has the
15 effect of falsely representing that the goods and services of Defendants are licensed by,
16 authorized by, offered by, produced by, sponsored by, or in any other way associated
17 with Deckers;
18 3. Ordering Defendants to recall from any distributors and retailers and to
19 deliver to Deckers for destruction or other disposition all remaining inventory of all
20 Accused Products and related items, including all advertisements, promotional and
21 marketing materials therefore, as well as means of making same;
22 4. Ordering Defendants to file with this Court and serve on Deckers within
23 thirty (30) days after entry of the injunction a report in writing, under oath setting forth
24 in detail the manner and form in which Defendants have complied with the injunction;
25 5. Ordering an accounting by Defendants of all gains, profits and advantages
26 derived from their wrongful acts pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a) and 35 U.S.C. § 289;
27 6. Awarding Deckers all of Defendants’profits and all damages sustained by
28 Deckers as a result of Defendants’wrongful acts, and such other compensatory
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
Case 2:18-cv-01227
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
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COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND EQUITABLE RELIEF
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EXHIBIT A
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