BEACON FALLS, CONN.—Following a bench trial earlier this year, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut today ruled in favor of Lavatec Laundry Technology, GmbH and its United States subsidiary Lavatec Laundry Technology, Inc., respectively, in a matter concerning ownership of the rights in and to the trademark “Lavatec” for use in connection with commercial laundry equipment sold in the United States.
The parties to the lawsuit, the successor to the original German laundry equipment manufacturer, Lavatec Laundry Technology GmbH, and a U.S.-based laundry service parts provider, Lavatec, Inc., both claimed the exclusive right to use the Lavatec trademark in the United States following a restructuring of the German laundry equipment company’s operations in 2009.
Outside the United States, Lavatec Laundry Technology GmbH is the undisputed owner of the Lavatec trademark and has manufactured and installed advanced tunnel washing systems on a worldwide basis since 2010. In 2013, Lavatec Laundry Technology GmbH filed suit against Lavatec, Inc. for trademark infringement in the United States. In a 22-page ruling, the U.S. District Court found that Lavatec Laundry Technology GmbH “now holds the exclusive ownership of the mark in the United States.”
Mark Thrasher, president of Lavatec Laundry Technology, Inc., expressed satisfaction with the federal court’s ruling: “It clarifies for customers and the marketplace the one Lavatec brand serving their laundry system needs—manufacturing and sales, supported with parts, technology and best-in-class service around the world.”
Go to Lavatec Laundry Technology.
