Moonbug Entertainment Limited v. 6383702
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:21-cv-04311
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Moonbug Entertainment v. 6383702, Judge Gardephe adopted default damages of $50,000 per defaulting defendant and closed the case.
Moonbug Entertainment Limited received statutory damages and related enforcement relief. The Defaulting Defendants were ordered to pay $50,000 each, plus post-judgment interest. The opinion identifies the Defaulting Defendants as all defendants against whom default was entered, excluding toyschina2011 and luomeikit.
What happened
Moonbug Entertainment Limited sued several defendants, alleging they marketed and sold counterfeit Blippi products. The case involved trademark infringement and a request for statutory damages.
The court had entered defaults against the defendants who did not respond, except toyschina2011 and luomeikit. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger recommended awarding $50,000 against each defaulting defendant and allowing Moonbug to serve asset-restraint notices without the usual 30-day delay. No party objected.
Judge Gardephe reviewed the recommendation, found no clear error, and adopted it in full. The court awarded Moonbug $50,000 in statutory damages against each defaulting defendant, granted post-judgment interest, dissolved the 30-day stay for asset-restraint notices, directed entry of judgment, and closed the case.
The detailed version
- Moonbug Entertainment Limited v. 6383702 · No. 1:21-cv-04311
- Paul Gardephe
- July 13, 2022
Background
Moonbug Entertainment Limited brought a trademark-infringement action alleging that the defendants marketed and sold counterfeit versions of products associated with Moonbug’s Blippi trademark. Moonbug sought statutory damages.
The court entered an order of default against each defendant except toyschina2011 and luomeikit. The court had earlier dismissed the claims against luomeikit without prejudice because Moonbug had not shown a basis for personal jurisdiction over that defendant. Moonbug had also voluntarily dismissed its claims against toyschina2011.
Magistrate Judge’s Recommendation
The court referred the damages question to Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger. He recommended awarding Moonbug $50,000 in statutory damages against each remaining defaulting defendant, plus post-judgment interest. He also recommended allowing Moonbug to serve notices restraining assets under New York law without waiting through the 30-day stay that would otherwise apply.
The recommendation warned that failing to object within 14 days would waive objections and prevent appellate review. No party filed objections.
District Court’s Review and Ruling
Because no objections were filed, the district court reviewed the recommendation for clear error on the face of the record. Judge Gardephe reviewed the 23-page recommendation and found it thorough, well reasoned, and free of clear error. The court therefore adopted the recommendation in its entirety.
The court awarded Moonbug $50,000 in statutory damages against each Defaulting Defendant, with post-judgment interest calculated at the federal rate from the date the Clerk enters judgment until payment. The court authorized Moonbug to serve asset-restraining notices under New York Civil Practice Law and Rules § 5222, dissolved the otherwise applicable 30-day stay, directed the Clerk to enter judgment, and closed the case.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.