The U.S. Trademark Office issued the following 187 trademark registrations to persons and businesses in Indiana in May 2021 based on applications filed by Indiana trademark attorneys:
| Reg. Number | Word Mark | |
| 6363617 | BADDIE IN HER BAG | |
| 6362805 | MOCATI | |
| 6362711 | PAPERWAVE | |
| 6362680 | GRANDEZ-PRODUCTS |
Indianapolis, Indiana – LHF Productions, Inc. and Fallen Productions, Inc. (the “Plaintiffs”) own copyrights for the screen plays and motion pictures London Has Fallen (Certificate Number PA0001982831) and Angel Has Fallen (Certificate Number PA2197434) (hereinafter the “Works”), respectively. The Plaintiffs claim Derek S. Dueker (“Dueker”) and Doel aka byanski@gmail.com (“Doel” and collectively the “Defendants”) “registered for accounts with a notorious piracy website referred to as YTS” (the “YTS Website”). According to the Complaint, Dueker downloaded, reproduced, and shared copies of the Works numerous times in 2019. Doel also allegedly downloaded, reproduced, and shared copies of Angel Has Fallen.
According to the Complaint, Dueker and Plaintiffs entered into a settlement agreement in which Dueker would provide certain information relating to the copyright infringement along with paying $950. However, Plaintiffs claim Dueker failed to provide the signed declaration or pay the $950 as required by the agreement.
The Plaintiffs are seeking damages for direct copyright infringement in violation of 17 U.S.C. §§ 106 and 501. Plaintiffs are further claiming willful contributory copyright infringement in violation of 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2). Third, Plaintiffs claim Defendants knowingly concealed infringement of the Works by removing or altering the copyright management information in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 1202. Finally, Plaintiffs are suing Dueker for breach of contract.
Indianapolis, Indiana – Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”), the Plaintiff, apparently owns by assignment U.S. Patent No. 7,772,209 (the “‘209 Patent). According to the Complaint, Shilpa Medicare Limited (“Shilpa”), the Defendant, notified Lilly on November 12, 2020 that it had submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) a New Drug Application (“NDA”) seeking approval to manufacture and sell its Pemetrexed Injection products (“Shilpa’s NDA Products”) prior to the expiration of the ‘209 Patent. Apparently, that notification triggered “a forty-five-day period for Lilly to bring an action for patent infringement under the FDCA.”
Lilly is seeking a judgment that Shilpa has infringed the ‘209 Patent. Further, Lilly is seeking a “judgment ordering that the effective date of any FDA approval for Shilpa to make, use, offer for sale, sell, market, distribute, or import Shilpa’s NDA Products . . . be not earlier than the expiration date of the ‘209 patent.” In addition, Lilly is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction and a declaration that this is an exceptional case pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 285.
The U.S. Trademark Office issued the following 132 trademark registrations to persons and businesses in Indiana in February 2021 based on applications filed by Indiana trademark attorneys:
| Reg. Number | Word Mark | ||
| 1 | 6261981 | HOPE-FULL LIVING | |
| 2 | 6277718 | CZ ZEROCARB LYFE | |
| 3 | 6277112 | FIRST CLASS LIFE | |
| 4 | 6276978 | MARKETTREND | |
| 5 | 6276678 | XSOFT |
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana is under new leadership. The Honorable Tanya Walton-Pratt was sworn in on March 20, 2021 and is the first person of color to serve as the Southern District of Indiana’s chief judge. She succeeds Judge Jane E. Magnus-Stinson. Chief Judge Pratt was appointed as a district judge on June 15, 2010, becoming the first African-American federal judge in Indiana history.
Chief Judge Pratt was elected Marion Superior Court Judge in November 1996. She also served as Master Commissioner for the Marion Superior Court since 1993 after practicing privately. From 1997 to 2008, Chief Judge Pratt served as Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division of the Superior Court, handling major felonies, presiding over 20 to 35 jury trials a year, as well as supervising the juvenile detention center. From 2008 until her appointment to the bench of the District Court, she served as a judge in the Marion Superior Court, Probate Division.
Indianapolis, Indiana – Allen L. Asher-Butler (“Asher”), the Plaintiff, claims he designed and illustrated the covers for at least four books (the “Books”). Asher claims Defendants, Amazon-KDP and Jeffrey Bezo (collectively “Amazon”) have been selling the Books authored by William “Will” Wills since 2009 without his authorization. According to the Complaint, Asher filed a claim of copyright infringement with Amazon but apparently the Books have still been sold in both Kindle and paperback versions.
Asher is seeking damages for the sales of the Books in the form of a percentage of sales as a royalty. The approximate amount of royalties claimed by Asher is $5.4 million. Asher is further seeking to recover all court costs and fees.
Indianapolis, Indiana – Wonderland Switzerland AG (“Wonderland”), the Plaintiff and resident of Switzerland, originally filed suit in the Central District of California for patent infringement against Defendant, Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc. (“Dorel”), an Indiana-based company,. The Complaint asserted three claims concerning three different patents relating to car seats and strollers filed a motion to dismiss or transfer the case for improper venue.
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), “[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought or to any district or division to which all parties consented.” According to the Court’s Order, while ordinarily a “defendant must make a strong showing of inconvenience to warrant upsetting the plaintiff’s choice of forum,” “where the plaintiff is a non-resident of the forum, and/or the case has relatively little connection to the chosen forum, the Plaintiff’s choice of forum does not enjoy that type of benefit on a Section 1404(a) motion.”
The Court held that the factors for transfer weighed heavily in Dorel’s favor. Further, the Court noted that “[t]o the extent a transfer of this action to Indiana is a ‘shifting of inconveniences,’ the only ‘convenience’ factor it negates for Plaintiff is a potential relative ease of traveling from Switzerland . . . to Los Angeles over traveling from Switzerland . . . to Indiana.” Therefore, the action was transferred to the Southern District of Indiana for further proceedings and the improper venue portion of the motion was denied as moot.
Indianapolis, Indiana – Apparently, Larry Philpot is a well-known photographer of musicians and concerts across the United States. Mr. Philpot has also filed numerous copyright infringement lawsuits over recent years. According to the Complaint, Mr. Philpot took a photograph of Ted Nugent and registered it with the U.S. Copyright Office under Registration No. VAu 1-164-624 (the “Photo”).
Mr. Philpot claims Odyssey Media Group, Inc. (“Odyssey”), the Defendant, used the Photo on its website without his permission or authorization in connection with an article titled “36 ‘Celebrities’ That Openly Support Trump.” Per the Complaint, Odyssey did not attempt to license the Photo for use, copying, publication, or display. Due to the alleged copyright infringement, Mr. Philpot is seeking actual compensatory damages, the disgorgement of profits, or statutory damages pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504 and his costs and attorneys’ fees pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 505.
Kenneth Zweigel, Content & Commerce, Inc., Kevin Detrude, and My K9 Behaves, LLC, the Defendants, filed a Notice of Removal from Hamilton County Superior Court 4 to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana for a lawsuit originally filed by Show Colors, Inc., Donna Chandler and Derivative Plaintiff My K9 Behaves, LLC, the Plaintiffs. According to the Notice, the Southern District has jurisdiction pursuant to the Copyright Act, Lanham Act, and the Declaratory Relief Act (28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202).
Apparently, the Plaintiffs’ Complaint alleges and “seeks relief regarding the proper owner of various copyrights, trademarks, and the derivative works related thereto.” Therefore, the Defendants claim the “action cannot be adjudicated without the interpretation of federal laws of the United States.”
The U.S. Patent Office issued the following 166 patent registrations to persons and businesses in Indiana in January 2021, based on applications filed by Indiana patent attorneys:
| Patent No. | Title | |
| 1 | D0908,592 | Skidsteer rack |
| 2 | D0908,469 | Trim |
| 3 | 10,904,837 | Systems and methods for controlling electronically operable access devices using WI-FI and radio frequency technology |
| 4 | 10,904,317 | System and method for identifying publicly available cameras |
| 5 | 10,904,224 | Aircraft engine monitoring system. |
