News
TRT™ Files Suit For Trademark Infringement
By John Burton
RED BANK - The Two River Times™ has filed suit in federal court alleging trademark infringement by a competing publication.
According to court documents filed on behalf of The Two River Times™, the Red Bank-based weekly newspaper has taken legal steps against Two River Journal, published by Nassau Journals, Princeton.
Two River Journal, alleged Douglas Katich, attorney for The Two River Times™, the plaintiff in the suit, "is usurping and misappropriating Plaintiff's reputation and goodwill in Plaintiff's [trade]Mark for Defendant's own pecuniary gain and, in the process, is infringing, diluting and blurring Plaintiff's mark and Plaintiff's goodwill and reputation associated therein."
The Two River Times™ a limited liability company, is a paid weekly publication, founded in 1990, has been reporting on local news, art, culture and lifestyles of the communities located in the area of the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers.
The name "two river" was coined by Claudia Ansorge, the paper's founder and original publisher, to describe the area situated near the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers, including the towns of Red Bank, Fair Haven, Rumson, Little Silver, Shrewsbury, Oceanport, Monmouth Beach, Sea Bright, Highlands, Atlantic Highlands, Middletown and Colts Neck.
Ansorge began weekly publication of The Two River Times™ in September of 1990.
"Plaintiff is the exclusive owner of the entire right, title and interest in the trademark Two River Times as applied to newspapers for general circulation and to the publication electronic newspapers accessible via a global computer network," the court filing stated.
Two River Journal, too, publishes local news and lifestyle articles concerning many of the same communities. But the use of the similar sounding name, "has caused, or are likely to cause, confusion, mistake or deception and the public is likely to believe mistakenly that Defendant's goods and the infringing Mark have their source of origin with Plaintiff or are in some manner approved by, associated with, sponsored by or connected with Plaintiff," all of which would be in violation of federal trademark law, the document stated.
NH Investments (also known as Nassau Holdings, Inc., is the sole owner of Nassau Journals, LLC, which operates from the same Princeton address, and are controlled and managed by Mr. Louis Mercantanti Jr., according to court documents.
Rumson residents Michael and Diane Gooch purchased The Two River Times™ from then owner and publisher, TV personality Geraldo Rivera in 2004. Katich said he secured a registered federal trademark in 2006.
A trademark secures, "a monopoly right to prevent others from using an identical and/or confusingly similar marks in the same category of goods and services," Katich explained on Tuesday.
In such a case, the attorney said, the plaintiff is required to show evidence of consumer confusion. "Which there was ample consumer confusion out there," Katich said.
"Clearly, their goods fall into the exact same class of goods and services as defined by the Patent and Trademark Offices," he said.
Another publication reporting on this suit indicated that a principal in that organization said the publication Two River Journal would change its name. "However, nobody's given me that phone call," Katich responded.
The owners of The Two River Times™ decided to move forward with the lawsuit because the Two River Journal failed to respond to Katich's October, 20, 2009 'cease and desist' letter, which was sent via fax and process server, Katich said on Tuesday.
