The owners of a New York City bar are defendants in a lawsuit brought this month by Pusser’s Rum Ltd., alleging that they’re infringing on Pusser’s trademark relating to the word “painkiller.”
The complaint, filed April 12 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that defendants Giuseppe Gonzales and Richard Boccato operate a bar in Manhattan called the “Painkiller Bar,” where they sell a cocktail also called the painkiller.
Pusser’s, which is represented by the US-based law firm Venable LLP, holds a US trademark giving it the exclusive right to use the word “painkiller” as applied to “alcoholic fruit drinks with fruit juices and cream of coconut and coconut juice,” and a separate mark covering the term “painkiller cocktail mix,” as applied to “non-alcoholic mixed fruit juices,” according to the complaint.
See the April 28, 2011 edition for full coverage.