Case: 1:23-cv-01355 Document #: 1 Filed: 03/06/23 Page 1 of 10 PageID #:1

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

JOHN DOE,

Plaintiff, Case No. 23-cv-1355

v.

THE PARTNERSHIPS AND

COMPLAINT
Plaintiff1 XXXX, (“Plaintiff”) hereby brings the present action against the Partnerships

and Unincorporated Associations identified on Schedule A attached hereto (collectively,

“Defendants”) and allege as follows:

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

1. This Court has original subject matter jurisdiction over the claims in this action

pursuant to the provision of the Patent Act, 35 U.S.C.§ 1, et seq., 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a)-(b) and 28

U.S.C. § 1331.

2. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391, and this Court may

properly exercise personal jurisdiction over Defendants since each of the Defendants directly

targets business activities toward consumers in the United States, including Illinois, through at

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Plaintiff’s name is being temporarily withheld to prevent Defendants from obtaining advance notice of this
action and Plaintiff’s accompanying ex parte Motion for Entry of Temporary Restraining Order and transferring
funds out of the accounts that Plaintiff seeks to retrain. Plaintiff is identified on the issued design patent for
Plaintiff’s patented design, which is included as Exhibit 1 hereto and filed under seal. Plaintiff will file a sealed
unredacted version of this complaint concurrently with this redacted version and intends to proceed as John Doe
only until the time Plaintiff has been able to formally serve the Defendants and provided notice of motion for the
Preliminary Injunction following expiration of the Temporary Restraining Order.

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least the fully interactive, e-commerce stores operating under the seller aliases identified in

Schedule A attached hereto (the “Seller Aliases”). Specifically, Defendants have targeted sales to

Illinois residents by setting up and operating e-commerce stores that target United States

consumers using one or more Seller Alias, offer shipping to the United States, including Illinois,

accept payment in U.S. dollars and, on information and belief, have sold products featuring

Plaintiff’s patented design to residents of Illinois. Each of the Defendants is committing tortious

acts in Illinois, is engaging in interstate commerce, and has wrongfully caused Plaintiff substantial

injury in the State of Illinois.

INTRODUCTION

3. This action has been filed by Plaintiff to combat online infringers who trade upon

Plaintiff’s reputation and goodwill by making, using, offering for sale, selling and/or importing

into the United States for subsequent sale or use the same unauthorized and unlicensed products,

namely handheld ring toss games, that infringe Plaintiff’s patented design, U.S. Patent No.

XXXXX (Exhibit 1), (the “Infringing Products”). Defendants create e-commerce stores operating

under one or more Seller Aliases that are making, using, offering for sale, selling, and/or importing

into the United States for subsequent sale or use Infringing Products to unknowing consumers.

The e-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases, share unique identifiers, such as using

the same product images, same advertising, design elements, and similarities of the infringing

products offered for sale, collectively establishing a logical relationship between them and

suggesting that Defendants’ operation arises out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of

transactions or occurrences. Defendants attempt to avoid and mitigate liability by going to great

lengths to conceal both their identities and the full scope and interworking of their operation.

Plaintiff has filed this action to combat Defendants’ infringement of its patented design, as well as

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to protect unknowing consumers from purchasing Infringing Products over the internet. Plaintiff

has been and continues to be irreparably damaged from the loss of its lawful patent rights to

exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, and importing its patented design as

a result of Defendants’ actions and seeks injunctive and monetary relief.

THE PARTIES

XXXXXX

4. Plaintiff is a limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of the

State of Missouri, having a place of business at XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

5. Plaintiff is the creator and seller of high-quality, innovatively designed, ring toss

games (the “Plaintiff Products”). The Plaintiff Products embody Plaintiff’s patented design as

claimed in the ‘XXX patent. A true and correct copy of the ‘XXX patent is attached hereto as

Exhibit 1.

6. The Plaintiff Products are distributed and sold to consumers throughout the United

States, including in Illinois, and through Plaintiff’s Amazon stores.

7. The Plaintiff Products have become enormously popular, driven by Plaintiff’s

arduous quality standards and innovative design.

8. The Plaintiff Products are known for their distinctive patented designs which are

broadly recognized by consumers. Products fashioned after these designs are associated with the

quality and innovation that the public has come to expect from the Plaintiff Products. Plaintiff uses

these designs in connection with the Plaintiff Products, including but not limited to, the following

patented design, herein referred to as the “Plaintiff Design.”

Patent Number Claim Issue Date

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XXXXX XXXXX

9. Plaintiff is the lawful owner of all right, title, and interest in and to the Plaintiff

Design and the ‘XXX Patent. U.S. Patent. U.S. Patent No. XXXXX was lawfully issued on

XXXXX, with named inventor XXXXX. Attached hereto as Exhibit 1 is a true and correct copy

of the United States Patent for the Plaintiff Design.

The Defendants

10. Defendants are individuals and business entities who, upon information and belief,

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reside in the People’s Republic of China or other foreign jurisdictions with lax intellectual property

enforcement systems, or redistribute products from the same or similar sources in those locations.

Defendants have the capacity to be sued pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17(b).

11. On information and belief, Defendants either individually or jointly, operate one or

more e-commerce stores under the Seller Aliases listed in Schedule A attached hereto. Defendants

use tactics to conceal their identities which make it virtually impossible for Plaintiff to ascertain

the full scope of their operation, Defendants’ true identities, and the exact interworking of their

network. If Defendants provide additional credible information regarding their identities, Plaintiff

will take appropriate steps to amend the Complaint.

Defendants’ Unlawful Conduct

12. Plaintiff has identified numerous fully interactive, e-commerce stores, including

those operating under the Seller Aliases, which were offering for sale and/or selling Infringing

Products to consumers in this Judicial District and throughout the United States. Plaintiff has not

licensed or authorized Defendants to use the invention claimed in the ‘XXX patent and none of

the Defendants are authorized retailers of the Plaintiff Products.

13. Third-party service providers like those used by Defendants do not adequately

subject new sellers to verification and confirmation of their identities, allowing counterfeiters and

infringers such as Defendants to “routinely use false or inaccurate names and addresses when

registering with these e-commerce platforms.” See report on “Combating Trafficking in

Counterfeit and Pirated Goods” prepared by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office

of Strategy, Policy, and Plans (Jan. 24, 2020) attached as Exhibit 2 and finding that on “at least

some e-commerce platforms, little identifying information is necessary” for sellers similar to

Defendants and recommending that “[s]ignificantly enhanced vetting of third-party sellers” is

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necessary. Online sellers engaged in counterfeiting and related infringements hedge against the

risk of being caught and having their websites taken down from an e-commerce platform by

preemptively establishing multiple virtual storefronts. See Exhibit 2 at p. 22. While Amazon has

recently taken steps to attempt to address these shortcomings, the foregoing deficiencies largely

remain.

14. Defendants go to great lengths to conceal their identities and often use multiple

fictitious names and addresses to register and operate their network of Seller Aliases. On

information and belief, Defendants regularly create new online marketplace accounts on various

platforms using the identities listed in Schedule A to the Complaint, as well as other unknown

fictitious names and addresses. Such Seller Aliases registration patterns are one of many common

tactics used by the Defendants to conceal their identities, the full scope and interworking of their

operation, and to avoid being shut down.

15. Even though Defendants operate under multiple fictitious names, there are

numerous similarities among the Defendant Seller Aliases. The Defendant Seller Aliases include

notable common features, including the same product images, accepted payment methods, check-

out methods, meta data, keywords, lack of contact information, identically or similarly priced items

and volume sales discounts, same incorrect grammar and misspellings, and the use of the same

text and images, including content copied from Plaintiff’s original product listings.

16. In addition to operating under multiple fictitious names, Defendants in this case and

defendants in other similar cases against online infringers use a variety of other common tactics to

evade enforcement efforts. For example, infringers like Defendants will often register new online

marketplace accounts under new aliases once they receive notice of a lawsuit. Infringers also

typically ship products in small quantities via international mail to minimize detection by U.S.

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Customs and Border Protection.

17. E-commerce store operators like Defendants are in constant communication with

each other and regularly participate in chat rooms and through websites regarding tactics for

operating multiple accounts, evading detection, pending litigation, and potential new lawsuits.

18. Further, infringers such as Defendants typically operate multiple credit card

merchant accounts and PayPal accounts behind layers of payment gateways to that they can

continue operation in spite of Plaintiff’s enforcement efforts, such as take down notices. On

information and belief, Defendants maintain off-shore bank accounts and regularly move funds

from their PayPal accounts or other financial accounts to off-shore bank accounts outside the

jurisdiction of this Court. Indeed, analysis of PayPal transaction logs from previous similar cases

indicates that offshore infringers regularly move funds from U.S. based PayPal accounts to China-

based bank accounts outside the jurisdiction of this Court.

19. Defendants are working in active concert to knowingly and willfully manufacture,

import, distribute, offer for sale, and sell Infringing Products in the same transaction, occurrence

or series of transactions or occurrences. Defendants, without any authorization or license from

Plaintiff, have jointly and severally, knowingly and willfully offered for sale, sold, and/or imported

into the United States for subsequent resale or use the same product that infringes directly and/or

indirectly the Plaintiff Design. Each e-commerce store operating under the Seller Aliases offers

shipping to the United States, including Illinois, and, on information and belief, each Defendant

has sold Infringing Products into the United States and Illinois over the internet.

20. Defendants’ infringement of the Plaintiff Design in the making, using, offering for

sale, selling, and/or importing into the United States for subsequent sale or use of the Infringing

Products was willful.

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21. Defendants’ infringement of the Plaintiff Design in connection with the making,

using, offering for sale, selling, and/or importing into the Untied States for subsequent sale or use

of the Infringing Products, including the marking, using, offering for sale, selling and/or importing

into the United States for subsequent sale or use of Infringing Products into Illinois, is irreparably

harming Plaintiff.

COUNT I
INFRINGEMENT OF UNITED STATES DESIGN PATENT NO. XXXXX
(35 U.S.C § 271)
22. Plaintiff hereby re-alleges and incorporates by reference the allegations set forth in

the preceding paragraphs.

23. Defendants are making, using, offering for sale, selling, and/or importing into the

United States for subsequent sale or use Infringing Products that infringe directly and/or indirectly

the ornamental design claimed by the Plaintiff Design.

24. Defendants have infringed the Plaintiff Design through the aforesaid acts and will

continue to do so unless enjoined by this Court. Defendants’ wrongful conduct has caused Plaintiff

to suffer irreparable harm resulting from the loss of its lawful patent rights to exclude others from

making, using, selling, offering for sale, and importing the patented invention. Plaintiff is entitled

to injunctive relief pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 283.

25. Plaintiff is entitled to recover damages adequate to compensate for the

infringement, including Defendants’ profits pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 289. Plaintiff is entitled to

recover any other damages as appropriate pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 284.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for judgment against Defendants as follows:

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1) That Defendants, their affiliates, officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys,

confederates, and all persons acting for, with, by, through under or in active concert with

them be temporarily, preliminarily, and permanently enjoined and restrained from:

a. making, using, offering for sale, selling, and/or importing into the United States

for subsequent sale or use any products not authorized by Plaintiff and that

include any reproduction, copy or colorable imitation of the design claimed by the

Plaintiff Design;

b. aiding, abetting, contributing to, or otherwise assisting anyone in infringing upon

the Plaintiff Design; and

c. effecting assignments or transfers, forming new entities or associations or

utilizing any other device for the purpose of circumventing or otherwise avoiding

the prohibitions set forth in Subparagraphs (a) and (b).

2) Entry of an Order that, upon Plaintiff’s request, those with notice of the injunction,

including, without limitation, any online marketplace platforms such as eBay,

AliExpress, Alibaba, Amazon, and Wish.com (collectively, the “Third Party Providers”)

shall disable and cease displaying any advertisements used by or associated with

Defendants in connection with the sale of goods that infringe the ornamental design

claimed in the Plaintiff Design;

3) That Plaintiff be awarded such damages as it shall prove at trial against Defendants that

are adequate to compensate Plaintiff for Defendants’ infringement of the Plaintiff Design,

but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention by the

Defendants, together with interest and costs, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 284;

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4) That the amount of damages awarded to Plaintiff to compensate Plaintiff for infringement

of the Plaintiff Design be increased by three times the amount thereof, as provided by 35

U.S.C. § 284;

5) In the alternative, that Plaintiff be awarded all profits realized by Defendants from

Defendants’ infringement of the Plaintiff Design, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 289;

6) That Plaintiff be awarded its reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs; and

7) Award any and all other relief that this Court deems just and proper.

DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL

Plaintiff hereby demands a jury trial on all issues triable as of right to a jury. Fed. R. Civ. P.

38(b).

Dated March 6, 2023. Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Daliah Saper

Counsel for Plaintiff

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