Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
Fort Wayne, Indiana – Via its intellectual property counsel, Plaintiff J & J Sports Productions, Inc. of Campbell, California (“J & J Sports”) filed three separate intellectual property complaints in the Northern District of Indiana alleging unlawful interception and broadcast of “The One” on Saturday, September 14, 2013.
The Defendants in the first lawsuit are Leonor Navarro and Sergio Navarro, individually and d/b/a La Santa Anita Family Grill, and Navarro Family Restaurant LLC, also d/b/a La Santa Anita Family Grill, all of Fort Wayne, Indiana. In the second lawsuit, J & J Sports sued Marco Puente, individually and d/b/a Estrella’s Sports Bar and Rumurs LLC, also d/b/a Estrella’s Sports Bar, both of Hammond, Indiana. Defendant Virginia Ramirez of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sued individually and d/b/a La Puerta Negra in the third complaint.
J & J Sports states that it is the exclusive domestic commercial closed-circuit distributor of the Program. It has sued the Defendants, both individually and doing business as commercial entities, under the Communications Act of 1934 and The Cable & Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992. Specifically, Defendants have been accused of violating 47 U.S.C. § 605 and 47 U.S.C. § 553 by displaying the Program at issue on September 14, 2013 without an appropriate license. A count of conversion is also included in each lawsuit.
Plaintiff has sued the non-LLC Defendants as individuals, alleging that they had the right and ability to supervise the activities of the commercial establishments that allegedly engaged in the illegal interception. J & J Sports asserts that the activities that they supervised included the unlawful interception of Plaintiff’s Program.
J & J Sports contends that the individual Defendants specifically directed the employees of the restaurants to unlawfully intercept and broadcast Plaintiff’s Program at the commercial establishments or, if they did not, that the actions of the employees of the restaurants are directly imputable to the Defendants sued as individuals by virtue of their purported responsibility for the activities of their respective establishments.
In all of these Indiana interception complaints, the intellectual property attorney for J & J Sports listed the following counts:
• Count I: Violation of Title 47 U.S.C. § 605
• Count II: Violation of Title 47 U.S.C. § 553• Count III: Conversion
J & J Sports asks for damages, as well as costs and attorneys’ fees.
The Puente case was assigned to Senior Judge Rudy Lozano and Magistrate Judge Paul R Cherry in the Northern District of Indiana and assigned Case No. 2:15-cv-00353-RL-PRC.
The Navarro case was assigned to Senior Judge James T. Moody and Magistrate Judge Susan L. Collins in the Northern District of Indiana and assigned Case No. 1:15-cv-00257-JTM-SLC.
The Ramirez case was assigned to Senior Judge James T. Moody and Magistrate Judge Susan L. Collins in the Northern District of Indiana and assigned Case No. 1:15-cv-00258-JTM-SLC.