Decision Date: January 31, 2013 -

Court: N.D. Ohio -

Patents: D634,488 and D634,487 -

Holding: Defendants’ motion for summary judgment of invalidity GRANTED -

Opinion: Plaintiff MRC Innovations, Inc. sued Hunter Mfg., LLP and CDI International, Inc. in March 2012 for infringement of U.S. Design Patents D634,488 and D634,487, entitled “Football Jersey for a Dog” and “Baseball Jersey for a Dog,” respectively. Hunter sells licensed sports consumer products, including pet jerseys. Originally, Hunter received its pet jerseys from companies affiliated with Mark Cohen, the principal shareholder of MRC. The relationship between Cohen and Hunter, however, did not last. After December 2011, Cohen stopped supplying pet jerseys to Hunter. Earlier that year, Cohen obtained the ’488 and ’487 patents and assigned them both to MRC. The two design patents protect the design of jerseys that Hunter previously received from Cohen, the V3 pet football jersey and the V3 pet baseball jersey. After Cohen stopped supplying these jerseys, Hunter hired CDI to supply pet jerseys like the V3 pet jerseys and MRC subsequently sued each company.