Chocolate brand seeks declaratory relief to stop Mars litigation
The owner of a chocolate brand who was sued by Mars in March has filed a complaint for declaratory relief looking to clear her of any wrongdoing and recover attorneys’ fees.
Syovata Edari, who created the CocoVaa chocolate brand last year, stated that the unresolved threat of trademark litigation presents a “significant ongoing” burden on her company.
As reported by WIPR in March, Mars sued Edari for trademark infringement by claiming the brand infringed its ‘ CocoVia’ trademark.
The Mars complaint was filed at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and requested her trademark be cancelled, an order to destroy infringing goods and a transfer of profits.
The ‘CocoVaa’ mark was filed in August last year and registered in March this year.
However, Mars’s complaint was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction earlier this month as CocoVaa had no place of business in the district.
“Mars knows, or should know, that its infringement claims are without merit,” stated the declaratory relief complaint.
It added: “Following dismissal of the Virginia action, CocoVaa Chocolatier has had some communication with Mars’ counsel in an effort to resolve the dispute, to no avail. Mars’s counsel have maintained that the CocoVaa mark is infringing, and that Mars intends to continue litigation.”
Mars owns a trademark for the term ‘CocoVia’ at the US Patent and Trademark Office. The mark was first used in commerce in 2010, the initial Mars claim said.
That suit added that in July last year, Edari founded the company CocoVaa and also launched a line of chocolate products under the trademark ‘CocoVaa’.
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