LOS ANGELES — A Colorado toy company is suing a manufacturer of exercise toys, alleging trade dress infringement and unfair competition.
Antsy Labs LLC of Dacono, Colorado, filed a complaint Dec. 21 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Stress Cube, LLC, William Gasner and Mitchell Sorkin, alleging violation of the Lanham Act.
According to the complaint, on Aug. 30, 2016, Antsy Labs launched a campaign on the crowd funding website kickstarter.com to procure funding for the commercial launch of the Fidget Cube toy. After the campaign's success, the suit says, Antsy Labs has been recognized as the sole creator and originator of the Fidget Cube Toys that has generated more than $500 million in sales.
However, Antsy says, the defendants have admittedly adopted the popular designs from various crowd funding websites and located third party manufacturers to produce cheap counterfeit versions of the original product.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants made, used, exported, imported, marketed, sold and/or offered for sale of an infringing product without the real owner's consent.
Antsy Labs seeks trial by jury, money damages, attorney fees, prejudgment interest, costs of action and all other relief the court deems proper. It is represented by attorney Todd M. Malynn of Polsinelli LLP in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 2:17-cv-09146-DMG-PLA