On Monday, December 14, 2015, U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron of the Middle District of Florida dismissed a trademark suit filed against the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, one of the premier mid-level professional hockey leagues in North America used primarily for developing future NHL stars, by David D’Amato for logo infringement. In the court’s Order on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, D’Amato was hit with more than $215,000 in sanctions for Judge Byron’s finding that he intentionally submitted forged documents in an attempt to substantiate his claims, particularly in the form of two forged notary signatures and falsified tax forms.
The case was originally filed in New York federal court in 2013, but was subsequently transferred to Florida this past September.
In his complaint, D’Amato claimed to have been using the image and the idea of the “solar bear” – basically, a polar bear wearing sunglasses – for a hockey club as early as 1985. D’Amato further claimed that throughout the late 1980s and into the 1990s, he and his now-defunct clothing company used the image of the “solar bear” on T-shirts, jackets, sweatshirts, etc., and that it had developed into a well-known brand. The Orlando hockey club, brought in as an expansion team of the ECHL, filed a trademark application for its “Solar Bear” image and logo in 2012, which D’Amato claims to have filed opposition motions with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
However, when issuing its Order on Monday, the court stated that it heard testimony of two men cited by D’Amato – an attorney and a police sergeant – regarding the truthfulness of his trademark claims. According to the court, both of these men testified that they never had a business relationship with the plaintiff nor signed the proposed documents submitted to the court with their signatures. This collective testimony, along with D’Amato’s failure to respond to an order opposing sanctions against him, made the basis of Judge Byron’s heavy-handed penalty in favor of the hockey club.
The sanctions against D’Amato included attorney fees and costs suffered by the Solar Bears, as well as the case being dismissed with prejudice, blocking D’Amato from having an opportunity to re-litigate his claims moving forward.