Partner Christina Moser earned a significant win for client Summit Tool Company (Ken Tool) in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Judge André Birotte Jr. granted a motion to enforce a consent judgment against Vevor, a global e-commerce and retail brand specializing in affordable tools, equipment and home improvement supplies, and a well-known repeat infringer of specialized tool designs. The court awarded $75,000 under the parties’ consent judgment, an additional $1 million in supplemental statutory damages for continued infringement, held the defendants in civil contempt and declared the matter an exceptional case, which allowed Ken-Tool to recover its attorneys’ fees and costs.
The ruling arose after it was discovered that Vevor had resumed selling products that the court found to be materially indistinguishable from those they were forbidden to sell, despite prior admissions of willful infringement and notice of the violation. The decision reinforces the strength of court-ordered trademark protections and sends a strong message to repeat counterfeiters and infringers.
