Sterling Heights, Michigan-based STAHLS’ has successfully defended its intellectual property rights by reaching a wide-ranging settlement in a federal lawsuit.
The three defendants in the case have agreed to cease their infringements of STAHLS’ patents, trademarks and copyrighted content related to its Hotronix FUSION heat press equipment, including a specific agreement to stop importation and sales of the infringing products in the U.S.
“STAHLS’ has dozens of issued patents and pending applications, as well as many federally registered trademarks,” said Ted Stahl, executive chairman at STAHLS’. “We have made significant investments in research and development to design the most technologically advanced heat press on the market, and we will fight back against threats to our intellectual property.”
Upon becoming aware of the infringing products, STAHLS’ intellectual property counsel, Fishman Stewart, moved quickly to assert STAHLS’ intellectual property rights. Within 24 hours from the filing of the lawsuit, the defendants removed the infringing products from their websites, as well as third-party sites.
In addition, the defendants immediately requested settlement of the complaint with STAHLS’. During the same time period, STAHLS’ worked with eBay Inc., Amazon and Facebook to take down infringing auctions, store offerings and advertising content. Shortly thereafter, the defendants executed the comprehensive settlement agreement.
“STAHLS’ has experienced significant growth as we’ve expanded our global footprint and strengthened our development, manufacturing and distribution capabilities,” said Chris Lawson, CEO at STAHLS’. “As we continue to innovate to meet ever-changing demands of today’s textile and garment decoration industry, we will move quickly whenever and wherever necessary to protect our customers against knockoff imitations looking to capitalize on STAHLS’ good name.”
