Recently, Those Characters From Cleveland, LLC, filed a complaint in the Northern District of Illinois (24-cv-3559) alleging:
(1) Trademark Infringement And Counterfeiting (15 U.S.C. § 1114);
(2) False Designation Of Origin (15 U.S.C. § 1125(a));
(3) Copyright Infringement (17 U.S.C. § 501(a)); and
(4) Violation Of Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act (815 ILCS § 510/1, et seq.).
The complaint relates to intellectual property (IP) and state law claims involving the CARE BEARS Trademark: U.S. Reg. Nos. 1,294,343 and 1,773,296 and U.S. Copyright Reg.
Nos. VA 1-824-810 and VA 1-982-408.
My law firm is involved in having clients voluntarily dismissed from this suit and removing freeze or hold on their PayPal, Amazon, Walmart, or Etsy stores. These cases (called “Schedule A”) cases involve rounding up several defendant storefronts scattered in and outside the United States and using leverage (placing freezes on funds within the United States). This is largely due to the personal jurisdictional threshold for the Northern District of Illinois. See: https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2023/12/19/the-northern-district-of-illinois-v-the-internet-how-chicago-became-the-center-of-schedule-a-trademark-infringement-litigation
Obtaining a voluntary dismissal and release of funds generally involves two methods of tackling these matters: (1) negotiations to settlement, or (2) direct involvement in litigation. In most cases, direct involvement is unnecessary and burdensome to the client. Nevertheless, the plaintiff law firms that bring these Schedule A IP suits are significantly more likely to respond quickly and favorably to attorneys in negotiations towards settlement and dismissal.
If you are involved in this matter as a listed defendant, Syed Law may be able to help. Please feel free to reach out to us here: https://syedlawoffices.com/contact/
Case: Those Characters From Cleveland, LLC v. The Partnerships et al., 24-cv-3559 (N.D. Ill.).