CHICAGO (Cook County Record) — An Indiana-based musical instruments company won't get $4.9 million in additional damages in its trademark infringement complaint against Guitar Center because it wrongly named a couple of affiliated defendants in its lawsuit, a federal appeals court ruled.
Barrington Music Products, headquartered in South Bend, Ind., should not have named Music & Arts Centers and Woodwind & Brasswind Inc. as separate defendants, a U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel ruled Wednesday, May 22.
The appeals court affirmed a U.S. District Court's denial of Barrington's motion for the additional damages.
Barrington accused Music & Arts and Woodwind and Brasswind, divisions of California-headquartered Guitar Center Stores, Inc., of infringing on its "Vento" woodwind instrument mark. Eastman Music Company, also headquartered in California, also was a named defendant in Barrington's complaint.
Defendants were accused of infringing on the Vento mark by use of their "Ventus” trademark, according to the background portion of the circuit court's decision.
"Barrington gives us no reason to conclude that the jury's verdict would be different if it were aware Music & Arts and Woodwind were merely divisions of Guitar Center rather than distinct corporations," the circuit court said in its five-page decision. "The jury found Music & Arts and Woodwind did not infringe on the 'Ventus' mark and there was no basis to award Barrington their 'Ventus' related sales."
Seventh Circuit Judge William Joseph Bauer wrote the decision in which Judge Ilana D. Rovner and Judge Michael B. Brennan concurred.
"Ventus" is a Latin word for "wind" while "Vento" is an Italian word for "wind," the circuit court decision said in a footnote.
In 2010, Guitar Center began selling woodwind and brass instruments produced by Eastman carrying the trademark "Ventus." Barrington began using its own trademark "Vento" on its products the previous year, according to the decision.
A jury in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana later found that only sales made by Guitar Center stores had infringed on Barrington's trademark and awarded the Indiana company the total amount of those sales, a little more than $3,200.
After the judgment had been entered, Barrington filed a motion asking the district court to amend the damages award.
"Barrington had discovered that the only distinct corporate entity was Guitar Centers, Inc., while Music & Arts and Woodwind were each divisions of Guitar Center," the decision said. "Barrington moved the court to amend the damages award to $4,947,200, the total sales for the 'Ventus” mark by all of the Guitar Center owned stores."
The district court denied that motion and Barrington appealed.
"Barrington named each division of Guitar Center as a separate defendant rather than naming only Guitar Center," the appeals court decision said. "This error persisted throughout the case and resulted in a verdict form that listed each defendant separately. The jury was instructed to determine whether each defendant violated Barrington’s trademark, to list the amount of the damages, and to determine whether the infringement was willful."
The jury found only Guitar Center stores had infringed.
"The judgment was rationally supported by the evidence, the amount of Guitar Center's sales," the appeals court decision said. "The fact that Guitar Center’s total revenue from the 'Ventus' sales was higher is not significant. The jury found the total amount of infringing sales was $3,228, not $4,947,200. The damages are accordingly based only on the amount of sales the jury found to be infringing, and not the total gross sales of 'Ventus' instruments."