Perennial Litigant Leo Stoller and Central Mfg. Co. Lose on "Stealth" Trademark Case

October 13, 2006 (Washington, DC) – Late last week, Judge George W. Lindberg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, issued a final ruling in the case of Central Mfg. Co. v. Pure Fishing and Pure Fishing v. Leo Stoller, finding no evidence of trademark infringement, dismissing all of Mr. Stoller's claims and siding with Pure Fishing on all four counterclaims.

For over two decades, Mr. Stoller, founder and owner of Rentamark.com and Central Mfg. Co., has used a range of legal scare tactics to enforce the protection of the word 'Stealth' for which he holds a trademark. Mr. Stoller's trademark enforcement schemes included filing hundreds of lawsuits and sending thousands of cease and desist letters to businesses around the world using the word 'stealth' in their product names or in some cases, their website URL. After receiving such letters, companies often ceased using product names with the word "stealth," surrendered their "stealth" trademark or settled with Mr. Stoller to avoid the economic consequences of lengthy and costly lawsuits.

In February of 2005, Mr. Stoller filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Pure Fishing for its use of the name SPIDERWIRE STEALTH for a premium fishing line that had been on the market for over two years. In response to Mr. Stoller's charges, Pure Fishing denied all allegations of trademark infringement and filed four counterclaims against Mr. Stoller. These counterclaims sought cancellation of the registration, a declaration of no infringement, which charged Stoller and his companies with a RICO-style pattern of unfair business methods, and for liability from the previously awarded unsatisfied sanction in S Industries, Inc. v. Centra 2000 (N.D. Ill. 1998), which had been acquired by Pure Fishing from Centra 2000.

For more than a year, Mr. Stoller employed tactic after tactic to delay the outcome of the trial including filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which would have held up any claims, including the Pure Fishing suit, until the company emerged from bankruptcy. This tactic, while successful in the past, did not work this time. Judge Jack B. Schmetterer of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered conversion of Leo Stoller's bankruptcy proceeding to one Chapter 7 (liquidation) and appointed a trustee to take control over Stoller's estate, including control as sole shareholder of the corporate entities used by Stoller. Judge Schmetterer also granted Pure Fishing's request that the automatic stay provisions associated with a bankruptcy case be lifted so that the district court could enter judgment.

In the district court decision handed down on October 4, 2006, Judge Lindberg found that the arguments presented by Mr. Stoller were without merit. Judge Lindbergh ruled that Central Mfg. Co. did not hold valid trademarks for the word stealth and canceled more than 30 'Stealth' trademarks. The court also recounted Mr. Stollers' repeated acts of extortion and unfair practices, made him responsible for paying the legal fees and court costs of Pure Fishing and was chastised as a "vexatious litigant." Stoller was then "barred from instituting any lawsuit or trademark opposition with out prior leave of this Court." In effect, Judge Lindberg's decision ends years of trademark abuse and "extortionate protection schemes" by Mr. Stoller.

"We are extremely pleased for our client," said Lance Johnson, partner, Roylance, Abrams, Berdo & Goodman, L.L.P. "We applaud Pure Fishing's leadership and commitment to stop the abuse of our trademark protection laws," he continued. "This decision is a win not only for Pure Fishing; it’s a win for all of Mr. Stoller's victims over the past two decades."

Roylance, Abrams, Berdo & Goodman, L.L.P. (www.roylance.com) of Washington, DC, served as lead counsel and Banner & Witcoff (www.bannerwitcoff.com) of Chicago as local representation.

Roylance, Abrams, Berdo & Goodman, L.L.P. specializes in protecting and defending clients' intellectual property assets, copyrights and trademarks. Known for innovative solutions, the firm uses groundbreaking and traditional strategies to provide a full range of services including litigation, licensing, trade secret matters and unfair competition to companies worldwide. The firm has extensive experience in proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and prevailed in the first-filed inter partes patent reexamination. Clients include Hubbell Incorporated, Pure Fishing, Samsung Electronics, American Farm Bureau Federation and XM Satellite Radio. Roylance Abrams is headquartered in Washington, DC.