Gogo Apparel, Inc v. Daruk Imports, Inc.
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:19-cv-05701
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Gogo Apparel v. Daruk Imports, Judge Schofield granted default judgment for copyright infringement, awarding $43,420 and ordering a permanent injunction.
Gogo Apparel, Inc. received a $43,420 judgment and permanent injunction against Daruk Imports, Inc. and Vinod Kumar Chawla, who are jointly and severally responsible for the award and bound by the injunction.
What happened
Gogo Apparel, Inc. asked the court to enter default judgment against Daruk Imports, Inc. and Vinod Kumar Chawla. A report recommended granting that request, and no party filed objections.
The court adopted the report and granted the application for default judgment. It awarded Gogo Apparel $43,420 against both defendants jointly and severally: $30,000 in statutory copyright damages, $13,020 in attorneys’ fees, and $400 in costs. The court also permanently barred the defendants from making, copying, distributing, advertising, offering for sale, or selling products bearing or incorporating protected material substantially similar to Gogo Apparel’s registered textile design.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield found no clear error or reason to change the report, directed the Clerk to enter judgment and close the case, and ordered that a copy be mailed to the defendants’ last known address.
The detailed version
- Gogo Apparel, Inc v. Daruk Imports, Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-05701
- Lorna Schofield
- July 23, 2020
Background
On June 11, 2020, Judge Aaron issued a Report and Recommendation advising that the court grant Gogo Apparel’s application for default judgment under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 55(a) and 37(b)(2)(A). The recommendation included a permanent injunction against Daruk Imports, Inc. and Vinod Kumar Chawla.
The parties were allowed to file objections. No objections were filed by the time of this order. The court explained that, when no timely objection is made, it reviews the recommendation for clear error on the face of the record. The court also reviewed the recommendation independently and found no reason to reject or change it.
Ruling
The court adopted the Report and Recommendation and granted Gogo Apparel’s application for default judgment. It entered judgment against Daruk Imports and Chawla, jointly and severally, meaning each defendant is responsible for the full judgment amount. The total award was $43,420, consisting of:
- $30,000 in statutory damages for willful copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c); - $13,020 in attorneys’ fees; and - $400 in costs, which the order attributes to 17 U.S.C. § 5050.
The court also permanently enjoined the defendants from manufacturing, copying, reproducing, distributing, advertising, promoting, offering for sale, or selling products or articles that bear a design identical or substantially similar to Gogo Apparel’s registered two-dimensional textile artwork, or that include protectable material copied from and substantially similar to that design. The order identifies the design as Registration No. VA 2-157-423.
Effect of the Order
The Clerk was directed to mail the order to the defendants’ last known mailing address, enter judgment, and close the case. Because the judgment was entered by default, the order does not describe a contested trial on the underlying infringement issues.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.