Chicago Federal Court Orders Cancellation of 35 Stoller "STEALTH" Registrations

In an October 4th ruling that may be devastating to Leo Stoller's STEALTH trademark operation, Judge George W. Lindberg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has issued a Final Judgment in the Central Mfg. Co. v. Pure Fishing, Inc. lawsuit in Chicago. [See previous TTABlog postings here, here, and here.]


The court not only entered judgment in favor of the Defendants on their four counterclaims (here), but it deemed the case "exceptional" and awarded attorneys' fees, ordered cancellation of all the STEALTH trademark registrations listed in the Complaint, and declared Central Mfg. Co. and its affiliates to be "vexatious litigants" and barred them from instituting "any lawsuit or trademark opposition" without prior leave of the court. [The court had previously dismissed Central's claims due to the "gross misconduct" of Mr. Stoller and his counsel. (TTABlogged here)]

The list of STEALTH registrations appears at paragraph 17 of the Complaint:

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You can bet that Mr. Stoller will appeal from this judgment. In the meantime, will the various TTAB proceedings involving one or more of these registrations be suspended? terminated?

But wait a minute! The Chicago bankruptcy court issued an Order on October 5th authorizing the Chapter 7 Trustee to act on behalf of Stoller's wholly-owned companies "in the capacity of sole shareholder of each respective corporation." So perhaps the question now is, will the Trustee appeal?

Text Copyright John L. Welch 2006.