August 17, 2015 Judge Robert Mariani issued a permanent injunction restraining Eric Kovaleski, Robert Kovaleski and ANYONE ELSE acting in concert with them from infringing MOO DUK KWAN® trademarks and he also entered a $115,560 judgment against Eric Kovaleski, Robert Kovaleski and Tang Soo Karate School, Inc. for Infringing MOO DUK KWAN® trademarks
Martial Art Instructors Hit With $115,560 Judgment
Martial Art Instructor Charged and Arrested For Trademark Counterfeiting
Martial Art Instructor Charged and Arrested For Trademark Counterfeiting
New York martial art instructor Sung Yoon had engaged in trademark counterfeiting and distribution of trademark counterfeited rank certificates for quite some time without being detected.
He issued certificates to his students bearing registered trademarks affixed without a license from the trademark owners. His students trusted him and believed him until an instructor contacted one of the organizations they had received rank certificates from to confirm that their rank certificate was legitimate; however, it was not.
Willfulness Is Not Required for an Award of Profits for Trademark Infringement
Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik LLP, 20 Commerce Drive, Cranford, NJ 07016
The U.S. Supreme Court held that a plaintiff in a trademark infringement suit is not required to show that a defendant willfully infringed the plaintiff’s trademark as a precondition to an award of the infringer’s profits.
What Can Happen When You Don’t Pay A Trademark Infringement Judgment?
What Can Happen When You Don’t Pay A Trademark Infringement Judgment?
Does A Martial Art Organization Trademark Matter?
Certainly, there are many competent and skilled martial art instructors teaching many different martial art systems and their students may excel in those respective systems, but beware of any instructor who uses another’s trademarks to lure in unsuspecting new students with the promise of learning a well known trademarked martial art system that the instructor is not licensed to teach.