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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Case 2:17-cv-02523-PSG-E Document 45 Filed 05/04/17 Page 1 of 28 Page ID #:640 1 SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP A Limited Liability Partnership 2 Including Professional Corporations SEONG KIM, Cal. Bar No. 166604 3 [email protected] 1901 Avenue of the Stars, 16th Floor 4 Los Angeles, California 90067 Telephone: 310.228.3700 5 Facsimile: 310.228.3701 6 SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP A Limited Liability Partnership 7 Including Professional Corporations LAURA L. CHAPMAN, Cal. Bar No. 167249 8 [email protected] LAI L. YIP, Cal. Bar No. 258029 9 [email protected] TONI QIU Cal. Bar No. 302268 10 [email protected] Four Embarcadero Center, 17th Floor 11 San Francisco, California 94111-4109 Telephone: 415.434.9100 12 Facsimile: 415.434.3947 13 THE WEBB LAW FIRM KENT E. BALDAUF JR., pro hac vice pending 14 [email protected] CECILIA R. DICKSON, pro hac vice pending 15 [email protected] CHRISTIAN D. EHRET, pro hac vice pending 16 [email protected] One Gateway Center 17 420 Ft. Duquesne Blvd., Suite 1200 | Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Telephone: 412.471.8815 18 Facsimile: 412.471.4094 19 Attorneys for Defendant FOREVER 21, INC. 20 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 21 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, WESTERN DIVISION 22 PUMA SE, a German company; and Case No. 2:17-CV-02523-PSG-E 23 PUMA NORTH AMERICA, INC., a Delaware corporation, DEFENDANT FOREVER 21, INC.’S 24 NOTICE OF MOTION AND Plaintiffs, MOTION TO DISMISS THE FIRST 25 AMENDED COMPLAINT v. 26 Date: July 3, 2017 FOREVER 21, INC., a Delaware Time: 1:30 p.m. 27 corporation,, Judge: Philip S. Gutierrez Courtroom: 350 West 1st Street 28 Defendant. Courtroom 6A -1-Case No. 2:17-CV-02523-PSG-E SMRH:482789180.1 DEFENDANT FOREVER 21, INC.'S MOTION TO DISMISS THE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT Case 2:17-cv-02523-PSG-E Document 45 Filed 05/04/17 Page 2 of 28 Page ID #:641 1 NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO DISMISS 2 TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR COUNSEL OF RECORD: 3 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on July 3, 2017, at 1:30 p.m. or as soon 4 thereafter as counsel may be heard in the courtroom of the Honorable Philip S. 5 Gutierrez, located in the First Street Courthouse, 350 West 1st Street, Courtroom 6 6A, 6th Floor, Los Angeles, California 90012-4565, Defendant Forever 21, Inc. 7 (“Forever 21”) will move and hereby does move to dismiss the First Amended 8 Complaint (“FAC”) filed by Plaintiffs Puma SE and Puma North America, Inc. 9 (collectively, “Puma”) (DE 13) pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) 10 for failure to state a claim. 11 Puma’s first claim for relief for design patent infringement fails to state a 12 claim because it improperly dissects the totality of the design patent to gerrymander 13 an infringement read. It does this by improperly ignoring virtually all of the 14 limitations of the design patent in favor of just a few. 15 Puma’s second claim for relief for trade dress infringement fails to state a 16 claim because: (1) it fails to identify the claimed trade dress with specificity; (2) it 17 fails to plead secondary meaning; and (3) it fails due to aesthetic functionality. 18 Puma’s third claim for relief fails to state a claim for copyright infringement 19 because the subject of the claim is an unprotectable, useful article, and Puma’s 20 copyright applications have not been granted by the Copyright Office, are not 21 attached to Puma’s filings, and have not been otherwise provided. 22 Puma’s fourth claim for relief for unfair competition and false designation of 23 origin under the Lanham Act, and its fifth claim for relief for state unfair 24 competition, are duplicative of the second claim for relief and fail for the same 25 reasons. 26 Puma’s attempt to stifle fair competition by claiming exclusive intellectual 27 property rights in universal shoe styles are without merit. Basic categories of 28 footwear are not protectable (even with a celebrity spokeswoman such as Rhianna). Case No. 2:17-CV-02523-PSG-E SMRH:482789180.1 DEFENDANT FOREVER 21, INC.'S MOTION TO DISMISS THE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT Case 2:17-cv-02523-PSG-E Document 45 Filed 05/04/17 Page 3 of 28 Page ID #:642 1 No matter how Puma attempts to state its claim—whether through copyrights, trade 2 dress, or a design patent—its threadbare recitals and vitriol fail to meet basic 3 pleading requirements. Therefore, the FAC should be dismissed in its entirety under 4 Rule 12(b)(6), without leave to amend. 5 This Motion to Dismiss the First Amended Complaint (“Motion to Dismiss”) 6 is based on this Notice, the accompanying Memorandum of Points and Authorities, 7 Forever 21’s Request for Judicial Notice and Exhibits 1-8 attached thereto and filed 8 contemporaneously herewith, all pleadings, papers and other documentary materials 9 in the Court’s file for this action, those matters of which this Court may or must take 10 judicial notice, and such other matters as this Court may consider in connection with 11 the hearing on this matter. 12 This Motion to Dismiss is made following the conference of counsel pursuant 13 to C.D. Cal. Local Rule 7-3, which took place on April 27, 2017. 14 Dated: May 4, 2017 Respectfully submitted: 15 SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP 16 By 17 /s/ Laura L. Chapman LAURA L. CHAPMAN 18 19 Attorneys for FOREVER 21, INC. 20 Dated: May 4, 2017 Respectfully submitted: 21 THE WEBB LAW FIRM 22 23 24 By: /s/ Kent E. Baldauf 25 KENT E. BALDAUF, JR. CECILIA R. DICKSON 26 CHRISTIAN D. EHRET A 27 Attorneys for FOREVER 21, INC. 28 Pro Hac Vice Pending Case No. 2:17-CV-02523-PSG-E SMRH:482789180.1 DEFENDANT FOREVER 21, INC.'S MOTION TO DISMISS THE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT Case 2:17-cv-02523-PSG-E Document 45 Filed 05/04/17 Page 4 of 28 Page ID #:643 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Page 3 I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 4 II. LEGAL STANDARD ......................................................................................... 3 5 III. ARGUMENT ..................................................................................................... 4 6 A. Count I Fails to State a Claim for Design Patent Infringement ...................... 4 7 1. Puma Misstates the Scope of the Design Patent .......................................... 4 8 2. Forever 21 Cannot Infringe the Design Patent Under Any Facts ................ 5 9 3. Puma Failed to Adequately Plead Willful Patent Infringement .................. 7 10 B. Count II Fails to State a Claim for Trade Dress Infringement........................ 7 11 1. Puma Fails to Specifically Identify the Alleged Trade Dress ...................... 8 12 2. Puma Fails to Plead Non-Functionality ....................................................... 9 13 3. Puma Fails to Plead Secondary Meaning ................................................... 10 14 C. Count III Fails to State a Claim for Copyright Infringement ....................... 13 15 1. Puma’s Failure to Attach the Applications for Copyright Registration Alone Warrants Dismissal .......................................................................... 14 16 2. Puma’s Three-Dimensional Shoe Designs Are Not Copyrightable ........... 15 17 3. Puma’s Creeper Copyright Infringement Claim Fails ............................... 17 18 4. Puma’s Fur Slide Copyright Infringement Claim Fails ............................. 17 19 5. Puma’s Bow Slide Copyright Infringement Claim Fails ........................... 18 20 D. Counts IV and V Are Duplicative and Likewise Fail ................................... 19 21 IV. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 20 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -i-Case No. 2:17-CV-02523-PSG-E SMRH:482789180.1 DEFENDANT FOREVER 21, INC.'S MOTION TO DISMISS THE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT Case 2:17-cv-02523-PSG-E Document 45 Filed 05/04/17 Page 5 of 28 Page ID #:644 1 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES 2 Page(s) 3 Cases 4 Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. v. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. 280 F.3d 619 (6th Cir. 2002) ................................................................................ 10 5 6 Amini Innovation Corp. v. Anthony Calif., Inc. 439 F.3d 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2006) .............................................................................. 4 7 Arminak & Assocs. v. Saint-Gobain Calmar, Inc. 8 501 F.3d 1314 (Fed. Cir. 2007) .............................................................................. 4 9 Aurora World, Inc. v. Ty Inc. 10 719 F. Supp. 2d 1115 (C.D. Cal. 2009) ................................................................ 14 11 Autodesk, Inc. v. Dassault Systemes Solidworks Corp. 12 No. 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109800 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 18, 2008) ............................ 9 13 Baby Buddies, Inc. v. Toys R Us, Inc. 14 611 F.3d 1308 (11th Cir. 2010) ............................................................................ 19 15 Branch v. Tunnell 16 14 F. 3d 449 (9th Cir. 1994) ................................................................................... 3 17 In the Matter of Certain Footwear Prods. Inv. No. 337-TA-936 (July 6, 2016)..................................................................... 12 18 19 Coach Servs., Inc. v. Triumph Learning LLC 668 F.3d 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2012) ............................................................................ 12 20 Colida v. Nokia, Inc. 21 347 Fed.Appx. 568 (Fed. Cir. 2009) .................................................................. 4, 6 22 Coto Settlement v. Eisenberg 23 593 F. 3d 1031 (9th Cir. 2010) ..............................................................................
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