Milbank secured an important victory in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington on behalf of Boards & More GmbH and Boards & More Inc. (collectively “B&M”) in a trademark dispute against North Sails Group (“North”) in relation to a family of North trademarks for sails, kiteboarding sails, windsurfing sails and related goods, services, and accessories.
In May 2019, North filed a complaint against B&M for Federal Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition under federal and state law, and False Advertising under the Lanham Act.
Milbank moved to dismiss the action for lack of personal jurisdiction over B&M Austria and for failure to state a claim. On November 18, 2019, the court granted Milbank’s motion on both grounds.
This marks a second victory by Milbank on behalf of B&M. Recently, Milbank secured early dismissal of all claims brought by North against B&M and EMERAM Capital Partners as co-defendants in separate Connecticut federal and state court actions, including requests for emergency injunctive relief, relating to an alleged breach of a trademark license and related infringement claims. North’s appeal to the Connecticut state appellate court is pending.
The Milbank team representing B&M is led by IP and Litigation partner Christopher Gaspar and includes IP and Litigation special counsel Nathaniel Browand, and IP and Litigation associates Javier Ramos and Sean Hyberg.
