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Umbrella Manufacturer Named as Defendant In Suit Brought by Tommy Bahama.

NEW YORK, June 1, 2009 -- Designer brand Tommy Bahama filed suit today against a umbrella manufacturer formerly retained and authorized via license to produce umbrellas bearing the TOMMY BAHAMA trademarks.

Tommy Bahama Group, Inc. accused Windbrella Products Group Corp. is continuing to produce umbrella with the various TOMMY BAMAHA trademarks after the licensing agreement between the parties was terminated.

Windbrella Products Group signed an agreement with Tommy Bahama with November, 2005 permitting Windbrella to use Tommy Bahama's intellectual property. In exchange for the license, Windbrella was required to pay a royalty every fiscal quarter to Tommy Bahama.

According to the complaint, Windrella was arrears in its royalties in the sum of $35, 350 by January, 2009 resulting the licensing agreement being terminated. Despite the termination, Windbrella is accused of continuing to produce and sell merchandise bearing Tommy Bahama trademarks.

When a court finds a defendant intentionally counterfeited a registered trademark, the court must under the Lanham Act, enter judgment for three times the greater of the counterfeiters' profits or the plaintiff's damages together with a reasonable attorney’s fee unless the Plaintiff elects for statutory damages up to $1,000,000 per counterfeit mark per type of goods or services.

The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has over 30 trademark registrations belonging to Tommy Bahama.

Tommy Bahama claims to have accrued over $2 billion in goods in the past ten years with over 80 TOMMY BAHAMA retail stores in the U.S. alone.