December 4, 2015
“Graybar takes on Delaware startup over its name,”St. Louis Business Journal, December 4, 2015
Graybar, the Clayton-based distributor of electrical, communications and data networking products, is looking to protect its name.
The company on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against a startup called Graybar Pharmaceuticals LLC.
The suit, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, said Graybar Pharmaceuticals, which is registered in Delaware, has used the Clayton company’s trademarks without permission.
It said the Clayton company has used the trademarks since at least 1926. Graybar is represented by Joel Samuels of Harness IP & Pierce PLC.
The suit said that Graybar Pharmaceuticals “has engaged in certain patent challenges that the industry, including entities that Graybar has relationship with, finds to be dishonest and unfair.”
Further, Graybar Pharmaceuticals “has purposefully obfuscated its identify including its address to further heighten the false assumption there is a connection between (Graybar Pharmaceuticals) and Graybar.”
Graybar seeks damages, including for corrective advertising, and an order preventing Graybar Pharmaceuticals LLC from any Graybar trademarks “likely to cause confusion…”
Graybar Pharmaceuticals and Graybar did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Of all trademark cases with judgments in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, 90 percent are terminated in favor of the plaintiff, including consent and default judgments, according to LegalMetric, a St. Louis federal litigation analysis company.
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