Drone maker Hoverfly sues for trademark infringement

On Monday, drone maker Hoverfly Technologies, Inc. filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Michigan against defendant Hoverfly, Inc. for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Drone maker Hoverfly sues for trademark infringement

Hoverfly Technologies alleges that the defendant infringes the plaintiff’s Hoverfly mark in connection with its similar goods and services.

According to the complaint, Hoverfly Technologies asserts that the drone maker has continuously used the Hoverfly mark continuously since 2010 and has “made a significant investment” to promote the brand. The trademark was officially registered and issued by the USPTO in 2012.

The drone maker argues that as a result, the company “is the national senior user of the HOVERFLY Trademark,” and that the company “possesses protectable common law trademark rights.”

However, Hoverfly Technologies averred that in 2018 it “inadvertently did not file a ‘Section 8’ declaration of continued use with the USPTO,” reports Law Street.

In April 2017, the plaintiff claimed that the federal trademark for the mark HOVERFLY had or may have had lapsed, and filed a trademark application for the same mark, which is “is identical or confusingly similar to Hoverfly’s HOVERFLY Trademark in appearance, pronunciation, connotation and overall commercial impression.”

In addition, the defendant operates a closely related business involving drone photography and videography services and uses the mark on similar online marketing channels.

Hoverfly Technologies states that Hoverfly “is not authorized…to advertise, distribute, sell, offer to sell, or facilitate the sale of any goods or services bearing the HOVERFLY Trademark,” and that the defendant is in violation of the Lanham Act, which protects consumers from being misled or confused by the misuse of existing trademarks.

Hoverfly Technologies demanded a declaratory judgment; to preliminarily and indefinitely stop the defendant from committing further infringement and illegal conduct; to delete the marks from the products, services and other materials of the defendant; to award damages; to award costs and fees; to revoke the registration of the defendant’s trademark; and other relief.

Hoverfly Technologies is represented by Bewersdorf PLC and Thompson Coburn LLP.

We will keep an eye on this case and inform you of any further developments.

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