Owners of Revolution Laboratories LLC, Joshua and Barry Nussbaum, have been ordered by an Illinois federal judge to post a $1.4 million bond. This comes after they were found to have infringed trademarks of a rival’s Diesel brand product line. The bond is essential to secure the judgment against them before any halt in its enforcement can be considered.
The Nussbaums had approached U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly, seeking a 30-day stay on the judgment while they pursued a supersedeas bond. This bond is a part of their broader effort to pause judgment enforcement until the Seventh Circuit reviews the case. The judgment originated from a jury’s conclusion that the Nussbaums’ supplement product was misleadingly similar to Charles Curry’s Diesel Test product.
Judge Kennelly was critical of the Nussbaums’ request for a stay, emphasizing that their plea didn’t meet the necessary criteria for a judgment stay without a bond. He also expressed doubts about the Nussbaums’ financial capacity to settle the judgment based on the information presented during the trial.
The bond was set at $1,425,293.39. Judge Kennelly also criticized the Nussbaums for not adhering to a local civil procedure rule when determining the bond amount.
Matthew Oppenheim, representing Curry, stated that the Nussbaums had no valid reason to request a stay on the judgment’s enforcement. He questioned if the defendants would ever acknowledge their misconduct towards Mr. Curry.
The judgment comprises $1,000 in damages, over $549,000 in disgorged profits, more than $201,000 in prejudgment interest, and $300,000 in punitive damages against both Revolution and each Nussbaum.
Revolution started selling the disputed supplement in October 2016. Both Curry and Joshua Nussbaum, Revolution’s president, filed trademark applications for their products that year. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office later suspended both applications due to potential confusion between the trademarks.
The case is Curry v. Revolution Laboratories et al., case number 1:17-cv-02283, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
