Sears Canada Sued by Martha Stewart Unit
CNN reports that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. has sued Sears Canada Inc., alleging that the Canadian company failed to pay required royalties for use of the trademark “MARTHA STEWART EVERYDAY” on a line of merchandise.
The CNN article further notes that the lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan, New York. I suspect the lawsuit is based on a breach of contract (between Sears Canada Inc. and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. ) and this contract contains a clause whereby the parties agreed to enure to the jurisdiction of State of New York or something along those lines - because all of the sales activity by Sears, of the Martha Stewart branded merchandise, would have occured in Canada.
A quick search of the Canadian Trade-mark Office reveals that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. does have a pending trade-mark application for MARTHA STEWART EVERYDAY. It was filed a decade ago (back in 1997), but was only recently advertised in the Trade-marks Journal last month. Hmm, maybe Sears Canada Inc. will oppose the application (although that probably wouldn’t help it with any contractual obligations it has).