Hallmark sues rival in trademark claim
The licensing arm of US-based card manufacturer Hallmark has sued a greetings card business for trademark infringement.
Hallmark filed its suit (pdf) against Dickens at the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Monday, April 10.
The greetings card company argued that Dickens infringed and diluted its trademark, competed unfairly and committed deceptive trade practices under New York General Business Law section 349.
According to the suit, Hallmark has used the ‘Hallmark’ crown and design since 1949. The company registered the term ‘Hallmark’ at the US Patent and Trademark Office in 1950.
In 2015, Hallmark said it would close its Enfield, Connecticut distribution centre. The company decided that its products should be recycled.
In March this year, Hallmark discovered that Dickens was selling Hallmark-branded products to non-Hallmark retailers for prices “well below that typically charged at Hallmark”, the suit said.
The suit added that a district sales manager at the company discovered that a Dickens employee had acquired “73 truckloads” of Hallmark cards that were due to be destroyed in Enfield.
Hallmark sent a cease-and-desist letter on March 30 and Dickens responded on April 5, the claim said.
The card business argued that Dickens’s products are not authorised for sale and threaten to cause confusion in the marketplace.
Hallmark asked for compensatory damages, punitive damages, statutory damages for trademark infringement, costs, pre- and post-judgment interest, triple damages and profits for violation under the Lanham Act.
On Sunday, April 9, James Chou, vice president of Dickens, sent a letter to Hallmark that was published on his company’s site.
He said the Hallmark letter “falsely suggests that we knowingly participated in obtaining ‘misappropriated’ cards”, and asked Hallmark not to repeat the “false claim”.
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