Tivoli, LLC filed a complaint for trademark infringement and unfair competition on June 21, 2004 in Santa Ana Federal Court against Decor-Max, LLC and Efficient-Tec International, LLC.
Tivioli alleges that the companies willfully and intentionally infringed Tivoli’s federally registered trademarks through advertising on the Internet and via the Decor-Max catalog by using the names "Tivoliled" and "Tivoliflexled." Tivoli seeks compensatory damages and a permanent injunction against Defendants, as well as punitive damages. Jerry Nickell, who owns the Decor-Max and Efficient-Tec domain names, was also named as a defendant.
Based in Santa Ana, CA, Tivoli, LLC is an industry leader in the design and manufacture of architectural accent and theater lighting systems, including aisle, step, wall and seat lighting. Tivoli, LLC has used the Tivoli name since the early 1970s and has widely advertised lighting products bearing the "Tivoli" and "Tivolite" registered trademarks. These include U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Registration No. 1,013,476 which issued June 17, 1975 for the trademark "TIVOLI" for electric lighting fixtures; and Registration No. 1,092,244 which issued May 30, 1978 for the trademark "TIVOLITE" for electric decorative light bulbs, light bulb displays, and chandeliers.
At all times, Tivoli, LLC’s trademarks have been marked with the ® or ™ in its literature, advertising and product labels. Tivoli alleges that Defendants infringed its trademarks when they began selling their confusingly similar "Tivoliled" and "Tivoliflexled" systems. Tivoli, LLC also claims that the accused companies went after its ongoing and potential customer base, causing damage to Tivoli, LLC’s business reputation, goodwill and sales, among other damages.
"Decor-Max and Efficient-Tec deliberately copied our trademarks in order to remain competitive," said Eric Kramer, CEO, Tivoli, LLC and Targetti North America, Inc. which is part of the worldwide Targetti Group. "They never invested the time or resources to develop products under their own name, but instead infringed our federally registered trademarks to their gain and to our detriment. We have filed this lawsuit to put an end to their infringing behavior."