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AK Futures LLC v. Green Buddha LLC

AK Futures LLC v. Green Buddha LLC

United States District Court for the Central District of California

August 4, 2021, Decided; August 4, 2021, Filed

8:21-cv-01028-JVS-ADSx

Opinion

CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL

Proceedings: [IN CHAMBERS] Order Regarding Motion For Preliminary Injunction and For Leave

Plaintiff AK Futures LLC ("Futures") moved for a preliminary injunction. Dkt. No. 15. Defendant Green Buddha, LLC ("Buddha") has failed to oppose the motion. Buddha also failed to request a hearing after the Court posted its Tentative Order.

For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS the motion.

I. Background

This is a trademark infringement action. Futures filed suit against Buddha alleging unlawful manufacturing, important, advertising, marketing, selling, and distributing of products that replicated Futures' own. Compl. ¶ 1.

Futures owns and sells Cake branded Delta-8 products, including disposable electronic delivery systems and electronic cigarette e-liquid. Id. ¶ 2. Delta-8 is a hemp-derived product, regulated under the PACT Act and other regulations. Id. The Cake product is the top-selling brand of Delta-8 vaping goods in the country. Id. Futures launched Cake in October 2020, and since then, demand has been overwhelming, with revenue [*2]  from sales of authentic Cake products exceeding $44,000,000. Id. ¶ 14. By virtue of this success, Futures has established substantial consumer goodwill in the Cake Mark, trade name, and designs. Id. ¶ 15.

Futures has also filed for registration of the Cake Marks before the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO"). Id. ¶¶ 16-17. The application dates span from December 21, 2020 to March 25, 2021. Id. ¶ 17. Since October 23, 2020, it has continuously used one or more of the aforementioned Marks in commerce, currently, all Cake products bear one or more of the marks. Id. ¶ 20.

Futures investigated Buddha's counterfeit products, engaging a private investigator to purchase and inspect samples of the same. Id. ¶ 25. On May 6, 2021, its investigator purchased three boxes, containing fifteen disposable Cake Delta-8 devices from Buddha. Id. ¶ 26. Futures examined the products and determined them to be inauthentic, despite "striking" similarities. Id. ¶ 27. However, they differ in a number of ways as well. Id. ¶ 28. Futures does not laminate its products, whereas the inauthentic versions were. Id. They also use different paper products. Id. The inauthentic products also use a previous [*3]  certificate of analysis sticker, no longer employed by Futures. Id. Other differences exist as well. See id. For example, the devices themselves are white, but the inauthentic versions are black. Clelland Decl. ¶ 20.

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2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190361 *; 2021 WL 4352811

AK Futures LLC v. Green Buddha LLC, et al

Subsequent History: Injunction granted at, Motion granted by, Costs and fees proceeding at AK Futures LLC v. Green Buddha LLC, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 208597 (C.D. Cal., Oct. 27, 2021)

Motion granted by, Judgment entered by, Injunction granted at, Costs and fees proceeding at, Request granted Futures LLC v. Green Buddha LLC, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 217096 (C.D. Cal., Oct. 27, 2021)

CORE TERMS

products, counterfeit, discovery, marks, preliminary injunction, infringing, merits, public interest, consumers, trademark, likelihood of confusion, irreparable harm, inauthentic, argues, likelihood of success, similarity, authentic, expedited, requests, agrees, copyright infringement, injunction, selling, courts