Bump Babies Trademark and Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Filed

trademark-attorney-copyright-attorney-bump-babies.jpgLos Angeles, CA – Fund Babeez, LLC and its exclusive licensee Bump Babies, Inc. sued Defendants Baby the Bump, Inc., Eve Maternity, and Velva Lyn Stricker for trademark and copyright infringement over competing sales of maternity clothing. Plaintiff Fund Babeez owns a USPTO registered “[Bump] Baby Under Manufacturing Process” trademark and uses several other [Bump] composite marks. A third plaintiff, the individual owner of the companies, has a copyright registration for text and graphics used on maternity clothing.

In 2007, Defendants filed an “intent to use” trademark application to register the allegedly confusingly similar “B.U.M.P…Baby Under Mommy’s Protection.” Plaintiffs sent a cease and desist letter to Defendants putting them on notice of their prior use of the [BUMP] marks. Defendants then amended their application to a “use based” application, allegedly falsely claiming a date of first use in 1996. Also, Defendants allegedly claimed to be “the original BUMP” on their website. Defendants are also accused of copying Plaintiffs’ copyrighted designs. Plaintiffs have also sued Defendants for libel for the purported statement to Plaintiffs’ retail customers that “She [individual plaintiff] had copied [Defendant] only changing the phrase a little.” The case is Fund Babeez, LLC v. Baby The Bump, Inc. et al,, CV 09-6747 GHK (C.D. Cal. 2009).