Tuong Nguyen v. Smartervitamins Corporation

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 TUONG NGUYEN and SMARTER CASE NO. 8:21-CV-00832-DOC-ADS

NUTRITION, INC.

12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS OF FACT AND

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

14 vs.

SMARTERVITAMINS CORP.,

Defendant. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 I. INTRODUCTION This action is a trademark dispute between two competing vitamin and supplement companies. Plaintiffs, Smarternutrition, Inc. and Tuong Nguyen (“Plaintiffs” or “SNI”) own the federally registered trademark for “Smarternutrition,” and sell a curcumin supplement under the “Smartercurcumin” mark. Defendant Smartervitamins Corp. (“Defendant” or “SVC”) makes and sells nutritional supplements through online storefronts under the mark “Smartervitamins.” Because the parties’ branding—use of the “Smarter” prefix in the nutritional supplement markets—is so similar, each party accuses the other of trademark infringement and other unfair business practices. For the reasons provided below, the Court finds that neither party has met their burden of showing that 11 …