Oceanus v. Blue Water - Complaint (Green Lobster Snares)
Oceanus v. Blue Water - Complaint (Green Lobster Snares)
Oceanus v. Blue Water - Complaint (Green Lobster Snares)
Plaintiff,
vs.
Defendants.
___________________________________________/
Manufacturing, LLC (“Blue Water”), and Scuba Monkey Dive Center L.L.C. (“Scuba Monkey”),
collectively (“Defendants”), for violations of the Act of July 5, 1946, ch. 540, Pub. L. 79-489, 60
Stat. 427, et seq., as amended (the “Lanham Act”), codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1051, et seq., and
1. Oceanus files this action against Defendants for Trademark Counterfeiting, False
Designation of Origin, and Unfair Competition, due to Defendants’ willful use of a counterfeit of
Oceanus’ federally registered trade dress, in connection with the sale, offer for sale, advertising, and
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2. This Court has original jurisdiction over the claims arising under the Lanham Act,
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a). This Court has original jurisdiction over the related state law
3. This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendants, pursuant to Fla. Stat.
§ 48.193(1)(a)(1) and (2), by virtue of their operating, conducting, engaging in, or carrying on a
business in this State, which includes their sales of the accused counterfeit infringing product, and
by virtue of their committing tortious acts within this State, as specifically related to the infringing
acts alleged herein. Defendants have advertised, offered for sale, sold and distributed the accused
4. Venue is proper in this judicial district under 28 U.S.C. § 1391 because the
Defendants have committed acts of trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and
unfair competition in this juridical district, and/or a substantial portion of the events giving rise to
the claims herein arose in this judicial district, and because this Court has personal jurisdiction over
Defendants in this District. Plaintiff may require limited discovery as to the full extent of
Defendants’ sales and/or distribution of the counterfeit product throughout this District.
advertise, sell and distribute a wide variety of diving, swimming and watersports equipment,
accessories, and apparel, and each Defendant has separately advertised and offered for sale the
accused products at issue here. This has occurred, for example, with each entity employing mirror
image eBay ads for the accused counterfeit product for sale. The Defendants have commonly
shipped the accused products into the Southern District of Florida (See Exhibit “A”, attached). In
addition to advertising infringing products on other platforms, the Defendants employ the same
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website for the advertising, offering for sale, and sale and delivery of their goods, located at
member, Timothy Boehnlein, who also appears to own the domain scubamonkaydivecenter.com,
6. Approximately 85% of Oceanus’ genuine lobster snares are sold within the State of
Florida, and a large proportion of that occurs within the boundaries of the Southern District of
Florida.
THE PARTIES
7. Plaintiff Oceanus is a Florida corporation with its principal place of business at 399
8. Defendant Blue Water is a Florida limited liability company with its principal office
9. Defendant Scuba Monkey is a Florida limited liability company with its principal
office located at 13585 NW 101st Drive, Suite 700, Alachua, Florida 32615.
BACKGROUND
10. Oceanus has been a supplier of U.S. manufactured diving products which it has
sold to distributors who, in turn, provide them to numerous retail outlets in the U.S. Its most well-
known product has been a revolutionary lobster snare, which was previously the subject of U.S.
patent protection, under United States Design Patent D450,801, issued November 20, 2001. This
11. During the 1990’s, there was no effective product or method for catching lobster
while diving. Nets and hand catching often produced collateral damage to the reef, as well as to
the lobster. The few snares then available either lacked a firm hold on the catch or sometimes
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failed to release the lobster without damage, when so desired. Then available snares employed a
12. This problem was solved by using a stainless stranded cable, attached to a rigid
fiberglass pull rod, which could then be easily controlled with a simple, yet reliable, bias-type
locking lever. The patented Oceanus snare was ultimately used by employees of the Florida
possible to remove a lobster from the reef without damaging surrounding coral, and the cable and
easy release locking system would also set the lobster free with little trauma. The product also
became successful with both novice and commercial lobster divers, because it made the process
13. For more than 20 years, Oceanus’ lobster snares have been continuously and
exclusively sold with a green color on their shaft. They are so well recognized by divers and the
trade, that the Oceanus’ snare is frequently referred to as “The Green One”, “The Green Snare”,
or “The Green Loop”. An example of the Plaintiff’s lobster snare is shown in the photograph
14. Oceanus is known in the dive industry, and among the dive community, as
providing high quality lobster snares that are identified by, and associated with, its arbitrary color
green, applied to the cylindrical tube of its lobster snare. As so applied, the color green is not
functional, nor does it serve a merely decorative or utilitarian purpose. The color green is not a
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natural by-product of the manufacturing process for the lobster snare, and has no bearing on the
cost, quality, or functionality of the product. The color green serves no purpose on the product,
15. Given the longevity and exclusivity of Oceanus’ application of the color green to
the cylinder of its lobster snare, the trade dress has an acquired distinctiveness, that is, a secondary
meaning in indicating Oceanus as the source and origin of its genuine lobster snares.
16. Oceanus is the owner of all right, title, and interest in, and to, U.S. Trademark
Registration No. 5,057,372, in International Class 028 for lobster snares. Oceanus’ trade dress
was registered on October 11, 2016, and first used in commerce in 2001. The Plaintiff’s
registration is valid and subsisting. Oceanus’ right to use the registered mark in commerce, for
lobster snares, has become incontestable, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1065. The registration, and its
prior common law rights, are hereinafter collectively referred to as “the mark” or “Plaintiff’s
mark”.
17. A copy of the Registration for Oceanus trade dress is attached hereto as Exhibit
“C”. The mark consists solely of the color green, as applied to the exterior of a cylindrical tube of
a lobster snare, further comprising a snare wire at one end, and an actuator handle at the other.
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18. In the past, Defendants have obtained genuine Oceanus lobster snares from one or
more of Oceanus’ distributors, for their own sales and distribution, among the wide number of
products they offer. These genuine Oceanus snares have been sold in commerce, and through
19. Oceanus recently learned that Defendants have also been advertising, offering for
sale, selling, and distributing lobster snares which are identical to, or virtually indistinguishable
Defendants’ counterfeit lobster snare, and Oceanus’ genuine lobster snare (also shown in Exhibit
“B”). As shown below, the two lobster snares are identical. They are virtually indistinguishable,
other than the Defendants’ product omitting Oceanus’ name and its patent and trademark marking,
which provides the registration numbers for the Oceanus’ design patent and registered trade dress,
Oceanus
Lobster Snare
Defendants’
Counterfeit
Lobster Snare
22. Defendants’ counterfeit lobster snare is not genuine, though it bears the identical
trade dress used as the source identifier of the Plaintiff’s product, as shown in Exhibits “B” and “C”.
Defendants’ counterfeit lobster snare has been sold without Oceanus’ prior knowledge or
authorization.
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23. Defendants have intentionally copied the Plaintiff’s registered mark, having actual
knowledge of Oceanus’ trade dress. At all relevant times, Defendants also had notice of Oceanus’
registration in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its trademark, through the permanent
placement of Plaintiff’s trademark registration number in the handle of its lobster snare. Plaintiff’s
24. The Defendants’ counterfeit snare is inferior to Oceanus’ genuine lobster snare,
including by virtue of the substandard quality of the counterfeit products’ component parts. Non-
limiting examples include the fact that: 1) the pull knob of the counterfeit snares is poorly affixed,
as compared to the pull knob of the Oceanus’ snare; 2) as compared to the genuine Oceanus snare,
the counterfeit snares employ substandard cable which easily kinks; and 3) the tubing of the
counterfeit snare employs substandard plastic and lacks the flexibility and shape memory inherent
in the genuine Oceanus snare, which ultimately affects the counterfeit snare’s ability to operate
25. Because of the inevitable confusion between the Defendants’ infringing products
bearing Oceanus’ distinctive trade dress, and the genuine Oceanus green lobster snare, any defects
or faults found with respect to the Defendants’ infringing products will negatively reflect upon,
and injure, the high reputation which has been established by Oceanus for its lobster snare.
26. In addition to the accused identical green lobster snare shown in paragraph 22,
above. Defendants have also advertised, offered for sale, sold and distributed counterfeit green
lobster snares but which are covered with a cosmetic sleeve of a different color, either red or
yellow. An examples of one of these lobster snares are shown in Exhibit “H”, attached, and
reproduced here.
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27. This sleeve material is shown further in the photo immediately below:
As seen, the heat shrink material does not neatly fit over the tubing. The fact that the material is
sloppily applied, and overlaps the end fittings, demonstrates that the snares were completely
28. The Defendants’ red and yellow sleeve covering the green snares is easily placed
over the cylindrical shaft and then shrunk with the aid of a heat gun. This cover material has no
functional use, or any cosmetic purpose. It is there to camouflage the green cylindrical tube
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underneath.
29. The cover material may be pulled off by the snare’s user, and the plastic sleeve is
removed rather easily. As soon as this occurs, the lobster snare displays the originally made green
30. In normal use, this sleeve material will partially scrape off with contact to rocks,
barnacles, or other encrusted surfaces, at or near where lobsters shelter. This immediately results
in the actual green color of the cylindrical shaft showing through the sleeve, becoming immediately
observable.
31. This cover material, which is in the nature of a shrink tubing, is also softened by
the heat of the sun. This further enables ripping, through snagging on surfaces which are typically
present around users of lobster snares, such as boat hardware, boat ladders, swim platforms and
trim tabs. Examples of this scuffing and ripping is shown in Exhibit “I Composite”, attached.
Upon belief, the majority of available shrink tubing has little to no UV resistance, which causes
32. Once ripped, removal of the shrink covering by the end consumer may well become
desirable, since its only function is to conceal the green tubing underneath. Such removal is easily
accomplished. Plaintiff requires discovery as to whether any retail outlet which may have received
infringing lobster snares, with red or yellow covers, may have removed such covers prior to sale.
33. In the circumstances described, the Plaintiff’s distinctive trade dress thus becomes
visible to consumers and others, in a post -sale environment. Defendants’ counterfeit green lobster
snares, although covered by the aforementioned wrap at the time of sale, and offer for sale, would
thus become counterfeit goods, likely to create post sale confusion with the purchasing public:
potential direct purchasers of the counterfeit goods, and potential purchasers of Plaintiff’s lobster
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34. Following Plaintiff’s discovery of the Defendants’ infringing acts, a letter was
delivered to their managing member, Timothy Boehnlein, (via overnight courier) on May 22, 2023.
The letter requested the Defendants’ response and co-operation, in lieu of litigation. No response
has ever been received on behalf of either Defendant. A copy of the letter is attached, hereto as
Exhibit “J”.
35. As of June 25, 2023, an eBay ad by Scuba Monkey Dive Center, attached hereto as
Exhibit “K Composite”, reveals that the Defendants have no intention of ceasing use of Oceanus’
registered trade dress to accomplish, at a minimum, the advertising and offering for sale of their
36. As shown in Exhibit “K Composite”, the Defendants are currently advertising, and
offering for sale, green lobster snares bearing Oceanus’ registered trade dress. This is being done
in direct connection with Defendants’ advertising, offering for sale, selling and distributing of their
inferior green snares which are “covered” with a red or yellow plastic sleeve.
37. In so doing, the Defendants are purposely associating and equating their red and
yellow snares with Oceanus’ green snare. This use of Oceanus’ trade dress to advertise and offer
for sale all three snares together, as “all the same” directly harms Oceanus’ reputation and
goodwill. Defendants’ use of Oceanus’ distinctive trade dress deceptively equates Defendants’
“red or yellow” snares to the quality associated with Oceanus. Defendants are using Oceanus’
green trade dress to directly promote the acceptance and sale of the “covered” green snares.
38. This is further evidenced by the fact that the identifier for the green snare shown in
Exhibit “K Composite”, attached, is: “Blue Water Products Lobster Loop 45 in. Length with
Stainless Steel Loop and Lock”. The ad then uses the very same product description and same
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product photo for the “red” and “yellow” lobster snares, in offering them for sale. All three snares
are offered at the same price, and Scuba Monkey’s ad also promotes the “identical” snares’ “high
39. Defendants’ inferior snares are also sold at a much lower price, which will likely
cause significant damage to Oceanus’ business. Exhibit “K Composite” shows that Defendants
offer the green snare for $35.00. This price is about $15.00 less than the typical retail price for a
40. The continued advertising, offering for sale, distribution and sale of Defendants’
counterfeit products will cause damage to Plaintiff’s reputation for quality, unless enjoined.
COUNT I
FEDERAL TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT
CONSTITUTING COUNTERFEITING
(15 U.S.C. §§ 1114 – 1117)
against the Defendants. The Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates by reference the allegations
42. Oceanus is the owner of U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5,057,372, for the mark in
International Class 028 for lobster snares. A copy of the Registration is attached hereto as Exhibit
“C”.
43. The Plaintiff’s mark has acquired distinctiveness. The public associates the mark
exclusively with Oceanus, as a result of the distinctiveness acquired through long, continuous, and
exclusive use in commerce in connection with its products bearing the mark.
Defendants have violated 15 U.S.C. § 1114 by having intentionally used the mark in commerce,
knowing that it is identical, or virtually indistinguishable from, Plaintiff’s mark. Defendants have
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done so in connection with the sale, offering for sale, advertising, and distribution of the identical
goods for which the Oceanus mark is registered on the Principal Trademark Register of the United
45. Defendants’ use of a counterfeit mark is likely to confuse or deceive the trade and
purchasing public into believing, contrary to fact, that Defendants’ lobster snare is sponsored,
licensed, or otherwise approved by, or is in some way connected to, or affiliated with, Plaintiff.
46. Further, Defendants’ use of the counterfeit mark is likely to cause confusion, due
to, at least, the identity of the goods, the identity of the marks, and the marketing channels used
47. Defendants’ acts constitute willful trademark counterfeiting, and has been, and
continues to be, with the intent to cause confusion, mistake, and to deceive consumers concerning
continue to cause Oceanus immediate and irreparable injury. Accordingly, Oceanus is entitled to
injunctive relief under 15 U.S.C. § 1116 because the irreparable injury is in an amount not yet
damages, treble damages, statutory damages, the equitable remedy of an accounting for, and a
disgorgement of all revenues and/or profits wrongfully derived by Defendant through its
infringement, and all attorney fees and costs, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1117.
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COUNT II
FALSE DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN
(15 U.S.C. § 1125(a))
51. This Count alleges False Designation and False Association pursuant to 15 U.S.C.
§ 1125(a)(1)(A) against the Defendants. The Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates by reference the
use in commerce, a false and misleading designation of origin concerning Defendants’ products
53. Defendants’ false designation of origin is likely to cause confusion regarding the
54. Defendants have caused and will continue to cause their false and misleading
55. Oceanus has been and is likely to be injured as a result of the Defendants’ false and
56. By reason of Defendants’ actions, Oceanus has suffered irreparable harm. Unless
Defendants are restrained from their actions, Oceanus will continue to be irreparably harmed.
57. Oceanus has no remedy at law that will compensate for the continued and irreparable
harm that will be caused if Defendants’ acts are allowed to continue and is thus entitled to a
damages, treble damages, statutory damages, the equitable remedy of an accounting for, and
disgorgement of, all revenues and/or profits wrongfully derived by Defendants through their
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infringement, and all attorney fees and costs incurred by Oceanus pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1117.
COUNT III
UNFAIR COMPETITION
60. This Count alleges Common Law Unfair Competition under the laws of Florida,
§ 2.01, Fla. Stat. against the Defendants. The Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates by reference the
61. Defendants improperly utilize a counterfeit of the Plaintiff’s mark which is identical
63. As a result of Defendants’ conduct, Oceanus will continue to suffer damage to its
reputation and loss of business because of consumer confusion as to the origin, sponsorship,
64. Oceanus has been, and absent injunctive relief will continue to be, irreparably
65. Oceanus has no adequate remedy at law for Defendants’ unfair competition.
WHEREFORE, Oceanus respectfully prays the Court grant it the following relief:
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infringing conduct;
pre-judgment interest;
damages due to Defendant’s disregard for the law under of §§ 32 and 43(a)
employees, servants, attorneys, successors and assigns, and all others in privity or
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thereof;
material covering over the color green from Defendants’ covered snares
(as identified in paragraphs 26-33 and Exhibit “H” to the First Amended
C. Entry of judgment that Defendants and each of their agents, employees, servants,
attorneys, successors and assigns, and all others in privity or acting in concert
c. Using the mark alone, or in combination with other words, letters and/or
d. In connection with lobster snares, covering over the mark with any material
otherwise capable of revealing the mark below, during the normal life of the
product.
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Defendants’ goods.
stationery, menus, and all other materials in the possession or under the control of
Defendants bearing or including the mark or any other reproduction, counterfeit, copy
or colorable imitation of the mark and all plates, molds, matrices and any other
E. The Court award such other and further relief as it deems appropriate.
Respectfully submitted,
Edward F. McHale
Edward F. McHale (FBN: 190300)
Andrew D. Lockton (FBN: 115519)
2855 PGA Boulevard
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410
Telephone: (561) 625-6575
Facsimile: (561) 625-6572
E-mail: [email protected]
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