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Case 2:18-cv-09309 Document 1 Filed 10/30/18 Page 1 of 22 Page ID #:1 1 DAVID GROSSMAN (SBN 211326) [email protected] 2 EDWARD K. LEE (SBN 294954) [email protected] 3 LOEB & LOEB LLP 10100 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 2200 4 Los Angeles, CA 90067 Telephone: 310.282.2000 5 Facsimile: 310.282.2200 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff CBS STUDIOS INC. 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 Case No.: 2:18-cv-09309 12 CBS STUDIOS INC., a Delaware corporation, 13 CBS STUDIOS INC.’S: Plaintiff, COMPLAINT FOR 14 v. (1) TRADEMARK 15 INFRINGEMENT IN DESILU STUDIOS, INC., a Delaware VIOLATION OF 15 U.S.C. 16 corporation; DESILU § 1125(a)(1)(A); CORPORATION, a Delaware 17 corporation; and CHARLES (2) CYBERSQUATTING IN HENSLEY, an individual, VIOLATION OF 15 U.S.C. 18 § 1125(d); Defendants. 19 (3) DECLARATORY RELIEF; AND 20 Deadline (4) CANCELLATION OF 21 REGISTRATION PURSUANT TO 15 U.S.C. 22 §§ 1064, 1119 23 24 25 26 27 28 Loeb & Loeb 16979949.3 COMPLAINT A Limited Liability Partnership Including Professional 206091-10015 Corporations Case 2:18-cv-09309 Document 1 Filed 10/30/18 Page 2 of 22 Page ID #:2 1 Plaintiff CBS Studios Inc. (“CBS”) hereby alleges as follows: 2 I. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 3 1. This action arises under federal law, the provisions of the Trademark 4 laws of the United States (the Lanham Act), as amended, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051 et seq. 5 This Court has jurisdiction over CBS’s federal law claims under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1121 6 and 1125 and 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a). 7 2. The Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant Desilu Studios, Inc. 8 (“DSI”) because, upon information and belief, it is a corporation authorized to do 9 business in the State of California, with its principal place of business located at 10 1600 Rosencrans Avenue, Manhattan Beach, California 90266. DSI also voluntarily 11 submitted to this Court’s jurisdiction by filing a lawsuit against CBS in this Court 12 regarding the same subject matter as is addressed herein. The Court has personal 13 jurisdiction over defendant Charles Hensley because he is an individual who, on 14 information and belief, resides in Redondo Beach, California. The Court has 15 personal jurisdiction over defendant Desilu Corporation (“DC”) because, on 16 information and belief, DC conducts continuous and systematic business in the State 17 of California, and specifically in this judicial district. The Court additionally has 18 personal jurisdiction over DC because, on information and belief, DC was assigned 19 the mark at issue in this case by Hensley, and then licensed that trademark to DSI, a 20 company with its principalDeadline place of business in California, with the knowledge and 21 expectation that the mark would be used by DSI (and Hensley) within and 22 throughout California, and with the knowledge that CBS also does business in 23 California. 24 3. Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(1) because, 25 upon information and belief, DSI maintains its principal place of business in this 26 judicial district and Hensley resides in this judicial district, and under 28 U.S.C. 27 § 1391(b)(2) because the events giving rise to CBS’s claims against each of the 28 Defendants occurred in this judicial district. Loeb & Loeb 16979949.3 COMPLAINT A Limited Liability Partnership 1 Including Professional 206091-10015 Corporations Case 2:18-cv-09309 Document 1 Filed 10/30/18 Page 3 of 22 Page ID #:3 1 II. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT 2 4. CBS is the holder of common law rights in the name and mark “Desilu” 3 for film and television productions (the “DESILU Mark”). Recently, Defendant 4 Charles Hensley (“Hensley”) began attempting to secure trademark registrations for 5 famous brand names that he believed were not formally registered with the United 6 States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). In 2016, Hensley sought to 7 register CBS’s famous mark “Desilu” for motion picture and television production 8 services, and he also attempted to register the mark “Trans World Airlines” for 9 airline services. 10 5. CBS does not own a registered trademark for the DESILU Mark, but 11 CBS owns common law rights to that name and mark because it has been using it 12 continuously for decades. Further, the DESILU Mark is well-known to the public 13 and has long been associated with CBS’s products, most notably, the long-running 14 television show, I Love Lucy. 15 6. Hensley is not a television or film producer. Instead, he claims to have 16 a background in the pharmaceutical business. He was convicted by this Court in 17 April of 2012 (CR-11-00455 JAK) for marketing and selling unapproved bird flu 18 medication. 19 7. CBS is informed and believes that Hensley never intended to use the 20 Desilu name for legitimateDeadline business purposes and, instead, intended to use that name 21 in order to induce “investments” into his shell companies. In furtherance of this 22 plan, Hensley formed two companies called Desilu Studios, Inc. (“DSI”) and Desilu 23 Corporation (“DC”). Hensley formed DSI in or about May of 2017, and then 24 formed DC in March of 2018. 25 8. In December of 2017, Hensley caused a false “valuation” letter to be 26 issued by a non-existent Los Angeles business called the “Beverly Wilshire Group.” 27 Hensley’s valuation letter stated that his newly-formed company, DSI, was worth 28 $11.2 billion (“We are issuing this letter to inform you in advance of our official Loeb & Loeb 16979949.3 COMPLAINT A Limited Liability Partnership 2 Including Professional 206091-10015 Corporations Case 2:18-cv-09309 Document 1 Filed 10/30/18 Page 4 of 22 Page ID #:4 1 report that we have determined Desilu Studios, Inc., to have a valuation of $11.2 2 billion USD.”). Defendants are informed and believe that there is no Los Angeles 3 company operating as the “Beverly Wilshire Group,” and the address on the 4 valuation letter (1999 Avenue of the Stars) did not have any tenant by that name in 5 December of 2017 (or thereafter). 6 9. Using this fraudulent valuation, Hensley represented to third parties 7 that he had “acquired” the famous Desilu company and, throughout 2018, Hensley 8 induced unwitting investors to give him money in exchange for valueless stock in 9 his newly-formed shell company. 10 10. In aid of his attempt to create the appearance that DSI was a legitimate 11 business (albeit with no operations, no employees and no revenues), Hensley 12 approached Lucie Arnaz, the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Hensley 13 informed Ms. Arnaz that he was re-launching “Desilu Studios” and asked for her 14 blessing so that he could inform third parties that she was associated with DSI. Ms. 15 Arnaz then spoke to CBS and declined Hensley’s offer. 16 11. After Ms. Arnaz declined to associate herself with Hensley and his 17 entities, he engaged counsel to file suit on behalf of DSI against CBS for tortious 18 interference with contract and for declaratory relief and trademark infringement. 19 That suit was filed in April of 2018, as case number 18-cv-02961-AB-(Ex). The 20 attorney originally engagedDeadline by Hensley/DSI was not paid for his services, was 21 unable to contact Hensley for months, and in July of 2018, was forced to file a 22 motion to withdraw. 23 12. Days after the withdrawal of Hensley/DSI’s original counsel, another 24 attorney, Drew Sherman, entered an appearance as counsel for DSI. Mr. Sherman’s 25 firm filed a notice of appearance on or about September 4, 2018, but Mr. Sherman 26 thereafter failed to appear at two scheduled court hearings, and did not respond to 27 numerous phone calls and emails from counsel for CBS. On Sunday October 21, 28 Loeb & Loeb 16979949.3 COMPLAINT A Limited Liability Partnership 3 Including Professional 206091-10015 Corporations Case 2:18-cv-09309 Document 1 Filed 10/30/18 Page 5 of 22 Page ID #:5 1 2018, the evening before a scheduled hearing with the Court, Mr. Sherman filed a 2 dismissal of DSI’s lawsuit. 3 13. CBS is informed and believes that Hensley filed the April 2018 lawsuit 4 against CBS as a delay tactic to enable him to inform potential “investors” that he 5 had a legitimate company, and was engaged in a good-faith dispute over the 6 ownership of the DESILU Mark. CBS is informed and believes that, during the 7 time the lawsuit was pending, Hensley induced numerous individuals to enter into 8 contracts with him, and to pay him tens of thousands of dollars for worthless DSI 9 stock. 10 14. The trademark registration that Defendants claim to own was procured 11 and maintained through fraud by Hensley, DSI’s purported Chairman and CEO. 12 The Defendants have also registered, trafficked in, or used websites containing 13 CBS’s DESILU Mark in bad faith, as part of their ongoing efforts to exploit the 14 significant goodwill CBS has generated in its distinctive and famous DESILU Mark. 15 Defendants have used these infringing websites to mislead the public and the 16 USPTO into believing that DSI is the same company that produced I Love Lucy and 17 Star Trek in the past, and to continue exploiting CBS’s goodwill in order to 18 personally enrich Hensley. 19 15.

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