DCT
1:23-cv-16571
Choose Friendship LLC v. T Schedule A
I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information
- Parties & Counsel:
- Plaintiff: Choose Friendship, LLC (Utah)
- Defendant: The Individuals, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Partnerships, and Incorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A to the Complaint (People's Republic of China and other foreign jurisdictions)
- Plaintiff’s Counsel: Rosenbaum & Famularo, Segall.
- Case Name: Choose Friendship, LLC v. The Individuals, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Partnerships, and Incorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A to the Complaint
- Case Identification: 1:23-cv-16571, N.D. Ill., 12/07/2023
- Venue Allegations: Venue is alleged to be proper based on Defendants' operation of interactive e-commerce stores that directly target and sell products to consumers in Illinois, causing tortious injury within the state.
- Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges that Defendants' online sales of bracelet making kits infringe upon Plaintiff's registered and common law trade dress in violation of the Lanham Act and state law.
- Technical Context: The dispute centers on consumer craft products, specifically kits for making handmade knotted string bracelets, a market where branding and product appearance can be significant differentiators.
- Key Procedural History: The complaint is a "Schedule A" action brought against a large number of foreign entities alleged to be an interrelated group of counterfeiters who conceal their identities. Plaintiff notes its ownership of various design patents, utility patents, and trademarks to establish the brand's goodwill and the non-functional, source-identifying nature of its trade dress, although no patent infringement is alleged in the claims for relief.
Case Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2009-01-27 | Filing Date for Design Patent D619,150 |
| 2009-03-02 | Priority Date for Utility Patent 8,172,281 |
| 2009-XX-XX | Plaintiff began manufacturing and selling products under its trade dress |
| 2010-01-12 | Filing Date for Design Patent D626,574 |
| 2010-07-06 | Issue Date for Design Patent D619,150 |
| 2010-11-02 | Issue Date for Design Patent D626,574 |
| 2011-11-08 | Filing Date for Design Patent D667,468 |
| 2012-04-30 | Filing Date for Design Patent D676,880 |
| 2012-05-08 | Issue Date for Utility Patent 8,172,281 |
| 2012-XX-XX | Plaintiff's common law trade dress rights established "at least as early as 2012" |
| 2012-09-18 | Issue Date for Design Patent D667,468 |
| 2013-02-26 | Issue Date for Design Patent D676,880 |
| 2023-12-07 | Complaint Filing Date |
II. The Accused Instrumentality
- Product Identification: The accused instrumentalities are "Bracelet Making Kit products" sold by Defendants through numerous online storefronts on platforms including Amazon (Compl. ¶¶17, 20).
- Functionality and Market Context: The complaint describes the accused products as "low quality, imitation bracelet making products" and "inferior imitations" (Compl. ¶¶3, 25). The core allegation is that these products, along with their packaging and marketing, bear an "imitation of the Choose Friendship Trade Dress" and were "intentionally designed to simulate Choose Friendship's look and feel" (Compl. ¶20). This is alleged to create the "immediate commercial impression" that the products are genuine or associated with the Plaintiff, thereby deceiving consumers (Compl. ¶20).
- Evidence: No probative visual evidence provided in complaint.
III. Other Allegations
- Willful Infringement: The complaint alleges that Defendants' conduct has been "intentional, willful, and malicious" (Compl. ¶¶21, 27, 33, 44). The basis for this allegation is the asserted similarity of the accused products' "look and feel" to the Plaintiff's established trade dress, which the complaint frames as an "intentional and calculated manner" to confuse consumers and trade on Plaintiff's goodwill (Compl. ¶¶20, 32). The complaint further alleges that Defendants' "bad faith is evidenced at least in part by the similarity of its infringing products" and their "continuing disregard for Choose Friendship's rights" (Compl. ¶21).
IV. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case
As this case centers on trade dress rather than patent infringement, the litigation will likely turn on the following core questions:
- A primary issue will be one of functionality: are the elements of the asserted trade dress, such as its "unique color schemes" and the "appearance of a butterfly" (Compl. ¶11), essential to the use or purpose of a bracelet making kit, or do they primarily serve to identify the source of the product as alleged by the Plaintiff (Compl. ¶19)?
- A central evidentiary question will be one of secondary meaning and likelihood of confusion: has the Plaintiff's asserted trade dress acquired secondary meaning in the minds of consumers such that they associate it with a single source (Compl. ¶24), and are the Defendants' products sufficiently similar to cause a likelihood of confusion as to the products' origin, sponsorship, or approval (Compl. ¶¶25, 31)?