I reported in the past about a dispute over the WITTMANN PATCH mark for a surgical device invented by Mark Wittmann. The case arose out of a business relationship that went bad. The court held on a preliminary injunction that plaintiff Starsurgical owned the WITTMANN PATCH mark and that Wittmann had to cease using it. Wittmann then adopted STAR PATCH instead. Starsurgical has now sued Wittmann again on breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference, trade secret and unfair trade practices theories, as well as infringement of WITTMANN PATCH by STAR PATCH. Normally one wouldn’t think that these marks are close enough to infringe, but given the history, the bad blood and the “Starsurgical” name associated with the patch I don’t think it’s such a bad theory.
Starsurgical, Inc. v. Wittmann, No. 8:12-cv-01605-MSS-EAJ (M.D. Fla.), complaint filed July 19, 2012.
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