Steph Curry’s New Golf Show Hit With A Trademark Infringement Suit
Coming off a loss in the NBA Finals, Steph Curry does not want to be involved in another beatdown, this time in federal court. However, the companies that are involved in putting together a new show that Steph Curry is hosting has been hit with a serious trademark infringement lawsuit in the Central District of California.
Fun Lab IP Co Pty Ltd., an Australian company whose brands include Holey Moley Golf Club, has sued Eureka Productions LLC and Unanimous Media, LLC. The crux of the case is that the defendants seek to use the words “HOLEY MOLEY” as the title of their forthcoming golf competition TV show. Yet, Fun Lab IP owns the U.S. federal trademark registrations to the HOLEY MOLEY word mark as well as a design mark that features a golf ball where the “O” should be in the word “HOLEY.”
The plaintiff points out that it made efforts, prior to filing the Complaint, to resolve the matter. Eureka Productions previously filed its own HOLEY MOLEY trademark application. On April 5, 2019, Plaintiff’s counsel reached out to the lawyer assigned to Eureka Productions’s application and objected to Eureka Productions using the mark. There was no resolution.
Fun Lab IP has a particularly compelling case based on the acts that have already taken place through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
While not serving as ironclad precedent, an early decision of the examining attorney attached to Eureka Productions’ pending application may prove quite compelling in a court of law.
On January 14, the examining attorney delivered an Office Action to Eureka Productions, including a refusal based on likelihood of confusion with Fun Lab IP’s registrations.
The examining attorney notes that the marks are identical in appearance, sound and meaning, and have the potential to be used in exactly the same manner. He further found relatedness of the services of the corporate entities, stating that “entities who organize golf and mini golf competitions allow those competitions to be televised or recorded, and that the organizers will provide the resulting recordings, or clips therefrom, to the public as a means of promoting their business.”
It is important to note that Eureka Productions has six months from the date that the Office Action was issued to respond, and has not yet responded to the letter. Thus, its application is not dead, but it is skating on thin ice based on the initial observations of the examining attorney, which may prove to be persuasive in a court of law that will now look at Fun Lab IP’s trademark infringement claim.
