Global Strategies, Inc. v. Interbulk USA, LLC d/b/a Interbulk Express (17-cv-12166).

Judge Stearns denied Global Strategies 2019 motion for a preliminary injunction for failure to establish a likelihood of success on the merits. Global alleges Interbulk infringes a Global patent and Global 2019s 201cDEMO BAGS 201d family of marks through sale of its 201cOx Demolition Clean Up Bag 201d or 201cOx Demo Bag. 201d Judge Stearns found that Interbulk had raised substantial questions concerning the validity of the asserted patent, because Interbulk had demonstrated that the accused product was on sale more than a year before the filing date of the asserted patent. He also indicated that there was a likelihood that at least some of the claims would be found obvious over the asserted prior art combined with common sense under KSR, which came out after the asserted patent had issued. With respect to the trademark, Judge Stearns found that 201cDEMO BAG 201d was an abbreviation for 201cdemolition bag, 201d which would render the mark generic and unprotectable, which was enough to overcome the weak showing of likelihood of consumer confusion.