Case 2:17-cv-00067-DLR Document 1 Filed 01/09/17 Page 1 of 10

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Robert J. Itri, Esq.

Arizona Bar No. 010938
Bob.Itri@MilliganLawless.com
MILLIGAN LAWLESS,
P.C.
5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200
Phoenix, Arizona 85018
Telephone: (602) 792-3500
Attorneys for Plaintiff

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA

IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF MARICOPA

5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200

Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Milligan Lawless, P.C.

No.

Reflective Shopper Limited,

Plaintiff,

COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR

TRIAL BY JURY

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vs.

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American Ad Bag Company, LLC; and

American Ad Bag International, LLC,

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Defendants.

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Plaintiff Reflective Shopper Limited (Reflective), a Hong Kong corporation

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located at Flat/Rm 1902, 19/F, Hua Fu Comm. Bldg., 111 Queens Rd. West, Sheung Wan,

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Hong Kong, for their complaint against Defendants American Ad Bag Company, LLC and

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American Ad Bag International, LLC (collectively Defendants) allege as follows:

NATURE OF THE SUIT

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This is an action for patent infringement under United States law arising from

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Defendants improper use of Reflectives rights to the design and implementation of a

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shopping bag with reflective strips.

Such acts have injured Reflective, damaged its

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business and, unless restrained, will continue to cause such damage.

PARTIES

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1.

Plaintiff Reflective Shopper Limited is a Hong Kong corporation located at

Flat/Rm 1902, 19/F, Hua Fu Comm. Bldg., 111 Queens Rd. West, Sheung Wan, Hong

Case 2:17-cv-00067-DLR Document 1 Filed 01/09/17 Page 2 of 10

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Kong, with an address in the United States at 2429 W. English Road, High Point, Guilford
County, North Carolina 27262.

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2.

Upon information and belief, defendant American Ad Bag Company, LLC is

a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, and is

licensed to do business in Arizona, with an office address of 4953 W. Missouri Avenue,

Glendale, Arizona 85301-6100.

5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200

Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Milligan Lawless, P.C.

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Upon information and belief, defendant American Ad Bag International, LLC

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is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, and is

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licensed to do business in Arizona, with an office address of 4953 W. Missouri Avenue,

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Glendale, Arizona 85301-6100.

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JURISDICTION AND VENUE

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4.

This is a civil action arising under the patent laws of the United States,

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Title 35 of the United States Code. This Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction

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pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 1338(a).

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5.

Defendants do business in this district, have substantial contacts with this

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district, direct their business to this district, and otherwise have sufficient contacts with this
district to confer jurisdiction of this Court.
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Defendants are now, and at all times relevant to this complaint have been,

subject to personal jurisdiction in the State of Arizona and the District of Arizona.

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7.

Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. 1391, as Defendants do

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business in this district, and upon information and belief, have committed acts and sold

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products in this district that are the subject of this suit.

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Case 2:17-cv-00067-DLR Document 1 Filed 01/09/17 Page 3 of 10

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BACKGROUND
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Reflective designs, manufactures, and distributes a variety of shopping bags,

Halloween bags, and coloring bags.

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9.

Reflectives bags are designed to make pedestrians more visible to motorists,

especially during dusk, dawn, and at night through the addition of reflective materials to

their various products, specifically shopping bags, Halloween bags, and coloring bags. The

reflective material serves to increase visibility to passing motorists when light comes in

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5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200

Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Milligan Lawless, P.C.

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contact with the reflective material. With significant effort and time, Reflective makes its
bags with novel ornamental appearances.
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Reflective owns intellectual properties, including patents, that cover their

shopping bag products.

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On April 19, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued

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United States Design Patent No. D753,914, entitled Shopping Bag With Reflective Strips

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(hereinafter the 914 Patent). Attached as Exhibit A is a copy of the 914 Patent.

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12.

The 914 Patent covers the ornamental appearance of a shopping bag with

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reflective strips. Figure 1 from the 914 Patent is displayed below:

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Case 2:17-cv-00067-DLR Document 1 Filed 01/09/17 Page 4 of 10

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13.

Reflective is the owner, by assignment, of the entire right, title, and interest in

and to the 914 Patent and has all rights to sue for infringement of the 914 Patent.

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Reflective manufactures and sells the below-pictured Halloween Bag, which

is protected by the 914 Patent.

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5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200

Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Milligan Lawless, P.C.

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15.

Upon information and belief, Defendants manufacture and sell Halloween

bags and other shopping bag items to various distributors.

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Defendants compete with Reflective in the market for Halloween bags.

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Defendants knowingly misappropriated key distinguishing design features of

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Reflectives Halloween Bag.

Upon information and belief, Defendants have

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misappropriated these key design features to make its own Halloween Bag (the Infringing

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Bag) that imitates Reflectives Halloween Bag.

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Defendants Infringing Bag is depicted below.

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5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200

Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Milligan Lawless, P.C.

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In the images below, the figure from the 914 Patent is on the left and is

compared with Defendants Infringing Bag depicted on the right. This demonstrates that
the Defendants bag infringes the design claimed in the 914 Patent.

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Upon information and belief, Defendants have offered its Infringing Bag for

sale at a lower price as compared to Reflectives Halloween Bag to the same distributors
and potential customers, which prevented Reflectives ability or the ability of its

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predecessors-in-interest, to sell their own patented bag to distributors and resulted in

Reflectives predecessors-in-interest missing the entire pre-Halloween selling season.
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Case 2:17-cv-00067-DLR Document 1 Filed 01/09/17 Page 6 of 10

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Through its counsel, on or around September 15, 2016, Reflectives

predecessor-in-interest Jamamiosva Gifts JLT d/b/a Reflective Shopper (Jamamiosva)

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sent a cease and desist letter to Defendants. That letter provided notice of the 914 Patent

and requested that Defendants cease and desist from all manufacturing, offering for sale,

sale, and distribution of any tote bags or other bags infringing the 914 Patent, and a

response within seven days confirming that Defendants will cease infringing activities

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5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200

Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Milligan Lawless, P.C.

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permanently from dealing in the Infringing Bag and any other products that infringe the
914 Patent.
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Through its counsel, on or around September 26, 2016, Jamamiosva sent a

second letter to Defendants requesting a written agreement to immediately cease and desist

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from all sales of the bag that infringes the 914 Patent.
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On or around October 18, 2016, counsel for Defendants advised that a

substantive response to Jamamiosvas letter of September 15, 2016, would be forthcoming.

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Defendants had notice of the 914 Patent and, upon information and belief,

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had actual knowledge of the 914 Patent since at least as early as September 15, 2016.
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On or around October 24, 2016, counsel for Defendants provided a

substantive response to Jamamiosvas letter of September 15, 2016, denied that any
infringement had occurred, and stated that Defendants were no longer selling its Infringing

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Bag in question and would not do so in the future.

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Despite representations that they were not selling its Infringing Bag and will

not do so in the future, Defendants continued to advertise the Infringing Bag on their
website until at least November 1, 2016, well after such representations were made.

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Case 2:17-cv-00067-DLR Document 1 Filed 01/09/17 Page 7 of 10

CLAIM FOR RELIEF

Patent Infringement Of United States Patent No. D753,914

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All of the foregoing allegations are incorporated by reference as though fully

set forth at length herein.

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Defendants are or have been manufacturing, importing, advertising,

marketing, selling, and/or offering for sale a bag that infringes the 914 Patent.
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Defendants manufacturing, importing, advertising, marketing, selling, and/or

offering for sale its Infringing Bag is a violation of Reflectives statutory rights under the

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United States Patent Statute (35 U.S.C. 1 et seq.).
5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200
Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Milligan Lawless, P.C.

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30.

Upon information and belief, Defendants were aware of Reflectives rights to

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the 914 Patent, and were certainly made aware of the 914 Patent at least by Jamamiosvas

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letter of September 15, 2016. That letter placed upon Defendants a duty of reasonable and

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due care to determine that they did not infringe Jamamiosvas rights (now Reflectives
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rights), which duty they did not satisfy.

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Defendants have been and continue to infringe the 914 Patent by

manufacturing, importing, advertising, marketing, selling, and/or offering for sale its
Infringing Bag that infringes the claim of the 914 Patent, directly or through the use of

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intermediaries, within this judicial district and elsewhere within the United States, its
territories and possessions.
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Defendants have been and continue to infringe the 914 Patent by inducing

others to at least advertise, market, sell, and/or offer for sale their Infringing Bag that

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infringes the claim of the 914 Patent. For example, Defendants sell and/or offer for sale
their Infringing Bag to Distributors, who then infringe the 914 Patent by advertising,
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Case 2:17-cv-00067-DLR Document 1 Filed 01/09/17 Page 8 of 10

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marketing, selling, and/or offering for sale the Infringing Bag to retail stores and/or end
users.

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33.

The aforesaid acts of Defendants were committed willfully, knowingly, and

in conscious disregard of Reflectives rights and the rights of its predecessors-in-interest,

and were with actual or constructive knowledge of the 914 Patent.

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Such conduct is willful and deliberate, thus rendering this case exceptional

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5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200

Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Milligan Lawless, P.C.

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under 35 U.S.C. 285.

35.

The aforesaid conduct of Defendants has caused Reflective and its

predecessors-in-interest immediate, great, and irreparable injury in their property and

business, which will continue unless Defendants are restrained from their wrongful acts.

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36.

Reflective has no adequate remedy at law.

REQUEST FOR RELIEF

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WHEREFORE, Reflective demands judgment against Defendants for:

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A.

a declaration that Defendants have infringed the 914 Patent;

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a declaration that Defendants infringement of the 914 Patent is willful;

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a preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining Defendants, their officers,

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agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and those in active concert or participation with

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them who receive actual notice of the order by personal service or otherwise, from

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manufacturing, advertising, marketing, selling, and/or offering for sale products that

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infringe the subject matter of the 914 Patent;

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a monetary award to Reflective in the amount of damages adequate to

compensate it for Defendants infringement of the 914 Patent;

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Case 2:17-cv-00067-DLR Document 1 Filed 01/09/17 Page 9 of 10

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E.

a monetary award to Reflective for infringement of design patents under

35 U.S.C. 289;

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F.

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and its predecessors-in-interest;

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a monetary award to Reflective in the amount of the lost profits of Reflective

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an order requiring Defendants to pay Reflective treble the amount of

compensatory damages for patent infringement, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 284;

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H.

5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200

Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Milligan Lawless, P.C.

an award to Reflective of their reasonable attorney fees and the costs of this

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action, and an award to Reflective of their attorney fees and costs available under 35 U.S.C.

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285;

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I.

prejudgment and postjudgment interest on the above monetary awards; and

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such other and further relief as this Court deems equitable and just.

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JURY DEMAND

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Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 38(b), Reflective hereby demands a trial by a jury on all
issues so triable.

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DATED this 9th day of January, 2017.

MILLIGAN LAWLESS, P.C.

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By: /s/ Robert J. Itri

Robert J. Itri
Attorney for Plaintiff

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COPY of the foregoing emailed/mailed

this 9th day of January, 2017, to:
Stephen F. Roth, Esq.
LERNER, DAVID, LITTENBERG, KRUMHOLZ & MENTLIK, LLP
600 South Avenue West
Westfield, New Jersey 07090-1497
Telephone: (908) 654-5000
Attorney for Plaintiff
/s/ Jeanette Burkey

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5050 North 40th Street, Suite 200

Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Milligan Lawless, P.C.

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