Terre Haute, Indiana – Attorneys for Plaintiffs, H-D U.S.A., LLC and Harley-Davidson Motor Company Group, LLC (collectively “Harley”), both of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, filed suit in the Southern District of Indiana alleging that Defendants, Harley Life, LLC (“Harley Life”) and Bill Lemon (“Lemon” and collectively “Defendants”), both of Vincennes, Indiana, infringed their rights in U.S. Copyright Reg. No. VA 1-987-746 and the United States Trademark Registrations below (collectively “Harley’s Intellectual Property”).
| Mark | Reg. No. | Goods and Services |
| HARLEY | 1406876 | Clothing; namely—tee shirts for men, women and children; knit tops for women and girls; and children’s shirts |
| HARLEY | 1683455 | Shirts, tank tops, boots and sweatshirts |
| HARLEY | 1708362 | Embroidered patches for clothing |
| HARLEY | 1352679 | Motorcycles |
| HARLEY | 3818855 | Non-luminous, non-mechanical tin signs, non-luminous, non-mechanical metal signs |
| 4465604 | Clothing, namely, shirts, hats, caps, belts, jackets, gloves, sweatshirts, lounge pants, wrist bands | |
| 3525970 | Jackets, coats, gloves, shirts, shorts, caps, hats, headwear, knit hats, belts, neckties, pants, sweatshirts, T-shirts, leather clothing, namely, leather jackets, leather gloves, footwear, namely, boots and vest extenders |
| 3092323 | Protective helmets, safety helmets, and sports helmets, goggles for protection, safety, and sports that convert to sunglasses | |
| 3304863 | Metal key fobs and non-luminous and non-mechanical metal signs |
Harley is seeking injunctive relief, judgment including statutory damages, and attorneys’ fees.
Harley allegedly sells apparel, stickers, decals, and a wide variety of other products bearing Harley’s Intellectual Property. According to the Complaint, federal courts have found Harley’s Intellectual Property to be famous, including a case in which a “federal court in Milwaukee awarded Harley $19,200,000 in statutory damages for counterfeiting of the HARLEY and Willie G. Skull Logo marks, among other marks.” See H-D U.S.A., LLC v. SunFrog, LLC, No. 17-CV-711-JPS, 311 F.Supp.3d 1000, 1043 (E.D. Wis. Apr. 12, 2018). Harley also claims it “filed a Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy complaint against third-party’s domain name “harley-life.com” in which the National Arbitration Forum found “HARLEY is well-known worldwide and that the harley-life.com domain name was confusingly similar to Harley’s Intellectual Property and ordering transfer of the domain name to Harley.” H-D U.S.A., LLC v. Malinda Dowling, Claim Number FA1608001691466 (2016).
Per the Complaint, Defendants have used Harley’s Intellectual Property in ways that have falsely suggested that their products are authorized, approved, or licensed by Harley. Harley alleges Defendants repair and service motorcycles, including Harley motorcycles, and organize a motorcycle riding club. The Defendants’ alleged trademark and trade name, “HARLEY LIFE” is claimed to infringe upon Harley’s Intellectual Property. Harley further alleges that the “HARLEY LIFE” logo infringes both Harley’s trademarks and its copyright. The Defendants allegedly sell apparel, decals, and other products utilizing the “HARLEY LIFE” trade name and logo. While Harley claims it has had many communications with Defendants through its counsel, the alleged infringement has not ceased.
As such, Harley is seeking damages for trademark counterfeiting and trademark infringement under 15 U.S.C. § 1114. Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(A), Harley is seeking damages for trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and unfair competition. Harley is also claiming trademark dilution pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c) and copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 101, et seq. Finally, Harley is suing for common law trademark infringement, unfair competition, and misappropriation.
The case was assigned to Judge James Patrick Hanlon and Magistrate Judge Doris L. Pryor in the Southern District and assigned Case 2:19-cv-00578-JPH-DLP.