United States District Judge, Gary A. Feess, ruled in favor of Allied Artists International, Inc. on June 8, 2009, dismissing false counterclaims by Defendant Robert N. Rooks. Rooks, two corporations and four co-defendants, were named by Allied Artists in a multi-million dollar trademark infringement action in December of last year.
Allied Artists alleged that Rooks and his co-defendants have fraudulently passed themselves off as the real "Allied Artists," in an effort to lure unsuspecting investors into buying stock in a worthless corporation trading publicly on the unregulated Frankfurt Exchange (IBS.F). Unregulated foreign stock exchanges make virtually no effort to verify claims made by listed companies, and maintain little to no information on corporate officers or directors, which encourages fraud. Rooks and his co-defendants stand accused of unlawfully using the "Allied Artists" name to attract unsuspecting investors who believed they were investing in the real Allied Artists.
Rooks filed an eleventh hour counterclaim against Allied Artists, asserting that he purchased the rights to the name from the real Allied Artists and therefore had a right to use it. Allied Artists asked the Court to dismiss Rooks' counterclaim on the grounds that it failed to demonstrate the existence of any such agreement. The Court initially ordered Rooks to produce any agreements supporting his claim by April 24, 2009.
On June 8, 2009, Judge Feess wrote in a four page order:
"Plaintiff Allied Artists International, Inc. is the registered owner of the 'Allied Artists' trademark * * *
"On April 15, 2009, this Court issued an Order in which it directed Rooks to produce copies of the agreements that serve as the basis for the allegations in his counterclaim. * * *
"The Court has provided Rooks with ample opportunity to produce copies of the purported agreements which Plaintiff allegedly breached, but Rooks has failed to do so."
Based on Rooks' failure to prove the existence of any contracts, Judge Feess Granted Allied Artists International, Inc.'s motion to dismiss Rooks' counterclaim, clearing the way for Allied's prosecution of Rooks and his co-defendants.
