Originally Posted by GI Sportz Press Release
Marballizer Injunction Granted Against Valken. Injunction covers all paintballs distributed by Valken that are similar in appearance to the GI Sportz Marballizer® paintball.
-- December 22, 2016 --
Camden, NJ - G.I. Sportz, Inc. announced today that on December 21, 2016 the United States District Court, for the District of New Jersey, granted GI Sportz’s request for a preliminary injunction against Valken Inc. to prohibit the sale or offer for sale of paintballs of similar appearance to GI Sportz’s Marballizer® paintballs in the United States until a full trial on the matter is concluded.
This injunction was issued based on claims that Valken infringes GI Sportz’s incontestable U.S. trade dress for its Marballizer® paintballs and that Valken breached a previous agreement with GI Sportz not to offer paintballs that look like GI Sportz’s Marballizer® paintballs. The Court specifically stated that:
“[GI Sportz] negotiated away pursuing the litigation (…) in exchange for a bargained-for clear, definable lane of permissible conduct, articulated by the parties in the contract in clear language and specific exemplars. [Valken’s] attempt now to rip that agreement up, go right back into the same market with an identical product suggests to me that they entered into this contract and received those concessions perhaps intending all along to not abide by the terms of that agreement. (…) [Valken] also entered into a contract not to sell the competing product and bound themselves to that, and [by] their conduct here now, (…) they have simply disregarded -- taken the benefit of a contract, assumed the benefits from it, and appear unwilling to honor (…) the benefit that they conferred on the plaintiff in this matter.”
The Court further went on to state that:
“As a matter of trademark law, one thing that's unique and special about these United States is that we have always, indeed the founders, founding fathers recognized the importance of intellectual property rights. It makes our system a model for others around the world for many years. [Marballizer®] is a valid mark. It has been deemed by the law under a regime established by Congress to be incontestable. It is entitled to deference and respect.”
"We are gratified by the Court's decision to grant a preliminary injunction against Valken and the recognition by the Court of our Trade Dress," said Richmond Italia, GI Sportz’s CEO. "From the beginning, our decision to seek an injunction against Valken was to protect our sport and the hard working employees of the GI Sportz family. This latest ruling by the Court further confirms that the U.S. judicial system respects innovation and intellectual property, and will intervene to prevent the proliferation of knockoffs when necessary. The Marballizer® Trade Dress was invented by GI’s predecessors, and has been associated with high quality paintballs for decades. Instead of cultivating its own design, Valken has repeatedly sought to short-cut this effort and expense by simply copying what GI and its predecessors have worked so hard to develop.”
A full trial on GI Sportz’s claims of trade dress infringement and breach of contract against Valken Inc. is scheduled to be held in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey at a later date.
G.I. SPORTZ (GI) is the leading global manufacturer of paintballs and paintball related equipment, operating across six continents with distribution in over 100 countries. Founded in 2010 by a group of professional paintball players and business owners, GI’s mission is to consistently deliver innovative, high quality and performance improving products to the Player, Dealer and Field Owner. GI strives to ensure that its current and new product lines deliver game-changing experiences to its customers.
Originally Posted by luke
Reply With Quote
Very disappointing to see that the lawsuits have started up again. If you have the same people you get the same results. 
