Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Counterfeit cat theater? 

Last month, father-and-son Russian clowns Yuri Kuklachev and Dimitri Kuklachev filed suit in the Eastern District of New York against alleged impostors who have passed themselves off in the United States as the plaintiffs’ Moscow Cats Theatre troupe.

Among the defendants is the Seattle Repertory Theatre, which allegedly staged some of the “copycat” performances.

A promotional graphic from the defendants’ Web site

The complaint states the “Kuklachevs are world-famous clowns whose names are household names in many countries and among cat-lovers worldwide. Through the use of proprietary animal training methods, developed by Yuri Kuklachev, Plaintiffs became widely recognized as the world’s first performers to successfully train and perform tricks with such notoriously stubborn animals as cats.” 

The complaint alleges that plaintiffs hired defendant Mark Gelfman to help market their tour. It claims that once plaintiffs left the United States, Mr. Gelfman filed a trademark application to register MOSCOW CATS THEATRE in the United States in his own name; registered the MoscowCatsTheatre.com domain name; and hired the other defendants to perform under the MOSCOW CATS THEATRE name and mark.

“The performances conducted by Defendants under the ‘Moscow Cats Theatre’ mark are very similar in nature to the ones performed by the authentic Kuklachev’s Moscow Cats Theatre, targeting the same audiences, in the same venues, using the same promotion methods,” the complaint states. “Even the [defendants’] cat show performer dresses in a very similar clown suit, wears similar makeup, hairstyle, and acts in a way very similar to Kuklachev, leading to numerous cases of actual mistaken identity by the audience.”

The complaint claims federal and common law trademark infringement, dilution, cybersquatting, and violation of plaintiffs’ rights of publicity.

Neither Mr. Gelfman nor most of the other defendants (including the Seattle Rep) has yet appeared in the lawsuit or answered plaintiffs’ complaint. 

The case cite is Kuklachev v. Gelfman, No. 08-2214 (E.D.N.Y.).

Props to the Slog for breaking the Seattle angle of this story.