GN Netcom, Inc. v. TelQuest International Corp. d/b/a American Telecom HQ and Amazon Reseller American Telecom Headquarters (17-cv-11671).

In an interesting trademark infringement lawsuit, a manufacturer seeks to prevent a reseller from using its trademarks to identify products the manufacturer actually made, but made for use and sale only outside of the United States. GN Netcom is a headset manufacturer based in Lowell, MA. It sells headsets under the brand names 201cJabra, 201d 201cVXi, 201d and 201cGN Netcom. 201d GN alleges that the Defendant is a reseller of phone systems and headsets, both through its own website and through Amazon, eBay, and other online platforms. Defendants are said to sell, without authorization, GN headsets that it purchased from international resellers, and to use GN 2019s trademarks (and some GN copyrighted images) in the process. These products were designed and manufactured differently than GN products intended for sale in the U.S., are said to contain 201cmaterial differences 201d (such as language differences in the interface, battery and voltage differences) from the U.S. products, and are not subject to GN 2019s U.S. warranty. GN further alleges that Defendant advertise U.S. versions of the GN products it sells, but then ships the international versions. GN brings counts for trademark infringement, unfair competition and false designation of origin. The case has been assigned to Judge Sorokin.