2025-cv-07222

COMPLAINT filed by Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. ; Jury Demand. Filing fee $ 405, receipt number AILNDC-23682559.

(Exhibit 1)

CIVIL Cover Sheet

ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. by Michael A. Hierl

ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. by William Benjamin Kalbac

ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. by Robert Payton Mcmurray

ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. by John Wilson

ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. by Elizabeth Aubree Miller

MOTION by Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. to seal document Plainitff's Motion for Leave to File Under Seal

SEALED DOCUMENT by Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. Sealed Schedule A

NOTIFICATION of Affiliates pursuant to Local Rule 3.2 by Bigfoot 4X4, Inc.

Notice of Claims Involving Trademarks by Bigfoot 4X4, Inc.

CASE ASSIGNED to the Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt. Designated as Magistrate Judge the Honorable Keri L. Holleb Hotaling. Case assignment: Random assignment. (Civil Category 2).

CLERK'S NOTICE: Pursuant to Local Rule 73.1(b), a United States Magistrate Judge of this court is available to conduct all proceedings in this civil action. If all parties consent to have the currently assigned United States Magistrate Judge conduct all proceedings in this case, including trial, the entry of final judgment, and all post-trial proceedings, all parties must sign their names on the attached Consent To form. This consent form is eligible for filing only if executed by all parties. The parties can also express their consent to jurisdiction by a magistrate judge in any joint filing, including the Joint Initial Status Report or proposed Case Management Order.

NOTICE of Motion by Michael A. Hierl for presentment of motion to seal document 8 before Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt on 7/9/2025 at 09:30 AM.

MINUTE entry before the Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt: This case has been assigned to the calendar of Judge LaShonda A. Hunt. Plaintiff names 90 Defendants in this single case 9. However, after reviewing the complaint 1 and other filings, the Court questions whether Plaintiff has established sufficient grounds for joinder of all Defendants. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a)(2); Viking Arm AS v. Partnerships & Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A, No. 24 C 1566, 2024 WL 2953105 (N.D. Ill. June 6, 2024). In addition, because Plaintiff filed a form complaint with generic allegations about "Defendant Internet Stores" allegedly violating federal trademark laws without any details whatsoever about the defendants identified in Schedule A, the Court doubts that the complaint satisfies the requirements of with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8 and 10. Accordingly, by 7/17/25, Plaintiff must either (a) file an amended complaint and an amended Schedule A under seal with a subset of Defendants, and the amended complaint must set forth with specific allegations about each defendant identified in Plaintiff's amended Schedule A, including allegations that explain how each defendant is properly joined with each other and labeled exhibits that contain screenshots or other information specific to Defendants listed on amended Schedule A only; or (b) file a supplemental memorandum that refers to specific facts alleged in its filings and provides citations to specific screenshots associated with each Schedule A Defendant to demonstrate that joinder is proper and the allegations are sufficient under Rules 8 and 10. Otherwise, this case will be dismissed. Counsel is admonished to review and comply with all court procedures and applicable rules. Plaintiff's motion to seal 8 remains under advisement. Finally, the motion hearing set for 7/9/25 12 is stricken, and the Court notes that 7/9/25 is listed on the Court's webpage as a date on which motions are not to be noticed for presentment. Counsel is reminded to review the Court's schedule before noticing motions for presentment. Mailed notice (gel,)

SEALED DOCUMENT by Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. Amended Complaint

(Amended Schedule A)

EXHIBIT by Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. Exhibit 1 to Amended Complaint regarding sealed document 14

DECLARATION of Ann C. Trent

SEALED EXHIBIT by Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. Exhibit 2 to Trent Declaration regarding declaration 16

MEMORANDUM by Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. Plaintiff's Memorandum in Support of Joinder

SEALED EXHIBIT by Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. Exhibit A regarding memorandum 18

NOTICE of Motion by Michael A. Hierl for presentment of motion to seal document 8 before Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt on 7/22/2025 at 10:00 AM.

MINUTE entry before the Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt: The Court previously entered an order 13 questioning whether Plaintiff had met its burden of establishing that permissive joinder of 90 Defendants in this case was proper under Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a)(2). Plaintiff was granted leave to file either a supplemental memorandum, or an amended Schedule A and amended complaint consistent with that ruling. In response, Plaintiff filed 14 a sealed amended complaint with a sealed Schedule A as an exhibit listing 8 Defendants, 15 an exhibit to the amended complaint listing trademark information, 16 the declaration of Ann C. Trent which discusses how Plaintiff is harmed by trademark infringement, 17 a sealed exhibit to the declaration of Ann C. Trent with screenshots of the Temu website showing the infringing products for sale, 18 a memorandum in support of joinder, and 19 an exhibit to that memorandum identifying each Defendants' infringing product in the exhibit to the declaration of Ann C. Trent 17. In short, Plaintiff's joinder argument involves descriptions of the 8 Defendants selling the same product on Temu. Plaintiff presumably contends that such similarities support its conclusory allegation that Defendants' actions arise out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences, but the Court remains unconvinced. See Viking Arm AS v. P'ships & Unincorporated Ass'ns Identified on Schedule A, No. 24 C 1566, 2024 WL 2953105, at *3 (N.D. Ill. June 6, 2024) (finding that plaintiff had merely identified a "small subset of the 181 defendants who are copycats of Plaintiff's style and each other, but that does not make them all partners in collusion) (emphasis in original); Bailie, et al. v. P'ships & Unincorporated Ass'ns Identified on Schedule A, No. 24 C 2150, 2024 WL 2209698, at *5 (N.D. Ill. May 15, 2024) (finding use of same images and similar product titles and descriptions insufficient to support joinder); Ilustrata Servicos Design, Ltd. v. P'ships & Unincorporated Ass'ns Identified on Schedule A, No. 21 C 5993, 2021 WL 5396690, at * 2 (Nov. 18, 2021) (holding that plaintiff's speculation that defendants were interrelated because they shared notable features "including use of the user name registration patterns, unique shopping cart platforms, accepted payment methods, check-out methods, meta data, illegitimate SEO tactics, HTML user-defined variables, lack of contact information, identically or similarly priced items and volume sales discounts, similar hosting services, similar name servers, and the use of the same text and images" did not support joinder); Bose Corp. v. P'ships & Unincorporated Ass'ns Identified on Schedule A, 334 F.R.D. 511, 514 (N.D. Ill. Fed. 19, 2020) (holding that even if defendants were selling the same products and defendants' webpages were identical "that would not overcome the likelihood that Defendants are just copycats" and that an allegation that defendants communicate through chat rooms and website based on "information and belief," without connecting any defendants to such chat rooms or websites, is insufficient to support joinder). Because Plaintiff has failed to cure the misjoinder here, the Court exercises its discretion to do so. Therefore, the Court dismisses Defendants 31, 35, 60, 65, 66, 68, and 85 without prejudice for improper joinder. This action will proceed as to Defendant 30 only. Finally, Plaintiff previously filed a motion to seal 8 its original Schedule A 9, and exhibit 2 to Ann C. Trent's declaration 17. Plaintiff, however, has since filed new sealed documents 14 19 without a properly noticed motion to seal articulating the basis for good cause to justify the sealing on an item by item basis. Any renewed motion to seal is due by 7/25/25. As a courtesy, the documents filed at 9 14 17 19 will remain under seal pending review of the anticipated renewed motion. If nothing is filed by that date, the documents filed those documents will be unsealed. The motion hearing set for 7/22/25 20 is stricken. Mailed notice.

MOTION by Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. to seal document Plaintiff's Renewed Motion for Leave to File Under Seal

NOTICE of Motion by Michael A. Hierl for presentment of motion to seal document 22 before Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt on 7/31/2025 at 10:00 AM.

MINUTE entry before the Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt: Plaintiff's motions for leave to file under seal 8 22 are granted. Schedule A 9, Amended Complaint 14, Amended Schedule A 14, Exhibit 2 to the Trent Declaration 17, and Exhibit A to the joinder memorandum 19 shall remain sealed until further court order. However, the Court's 7/13/25 minute order 13 ordered Plaintiff to file only its Amended Schedule A under seal, not an amended complaint and amended Schedule A. Because Plaintiffs' sealed Amended Schedule A is attached to the sealed Amended Complaint 14, Plaintiff is ordered to file a redacted, unsealed, standalone version of the Amended Complaint by 7/30/25. The motion hearing scheduled for 7/31/25 23 is hereby stricken. If no other relief has been sought, Plaintiff is ordered to file a status report by 8/18/25 updating the Court on proposed next steps in the case. Mailed notice (gel,)

Redacted, Unsealed Amended Complaint AMENDED complaint by Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. against The Individuals, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A Hereto

STATUS Report by Bigfoot 4X4, Inc.

MINUTE entry before the Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt: The Court has reviewed Plaintiff's status report 26 indicating its intent to file a motion requesting expedited discovery and for electronic service. This case was filed on 6/27/25 with several documents temporarily sealed. But at this point, Plaintiff has not presented exigent circumstances that would justify continued sealing of the defendant or documents pertaining to alleged infringing activity. "Secrecy makes little sense if the goal of the litigation is to protect rightholders' IP interests by obtaining an injunction against defendants' sales of infringing or counterfeit goods." See Eicher Motors Ltd. v. Partnerships & Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A, No. 25 C 2937, 2025 WL 2299593 at *7 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 8, 2025)(Kness, J.). More importantly, this presumption of sealing runs counter to the well-established authority of this Circuit holding that "[m]any a litigant would prefer that the subject matter of a case. be kept from the curious (including its business rivals and customers), but the tradition that litigation is open to the public is of very long standing." See Union Oil Co. of Cal. v. Leavell, 220 F.3d 562, 567-68 (7th Cir. 2000). For those reasons, the Clerk of Court is directed to unseal the documents filed at 9 14 17 19 and to update the docket and caption to reflect that Defendant's name is "Chimay Market." If no other relief has been sought, Plaintiff is ordered to file an updated status report by 8/28/25 setting forth proposed next steps in this case. Mailed notice (gel,)

MOTION by Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. Plaintiff's Motion for Electronic Service of Process Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(f)(3)

MOTION by Plaintiff Bigfoot 4X4, Inc. to expedite Plaintiff's Motion for Expedited Discovery

NOTICE of Motion by Michael A. Hierl for presentment of motion for miscellaneous relief 28, motion to expedite 29 before Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt on 8/28/2025 at 10:00 AM.

MINUTE entry before the Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt: Plaintiff's motion for leave to conduct expedited discovery 29 is granted. The Court grants Plaintiff's request for expedited discovery as the Court finds that expedited discovery is warranted to obtain Defendant's contact information. Enter Order Authorizing Expedited Discovery. Plaintiff's motion for electronic service of process pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(f)(3) 28 is denied without prejudice. Plaintiff seeks authorization to effectuate service of process by email and electronic publication but has not yet shown that it has a reliable email address at which it may reach Defendant. Any renewed motion must include these details. The motion hearing set for 8/28/25 30 is stricken. If no other relief has been sought, Plaintiff is ordered to file a status report by 9/16/25 updating the Court on the progress of expedited discovery and proposed next steps in the case. Finally, and as previously ordered 27, the Clerk of Court is directed, forthwith, to unseal the documents filed at 9 14 17 19 and to update the docket and caption to reflect that Defendant's name is "Chimay Market." Mailed notice (gel,)

ORDER AUTHORIZING EXPEDITED DISCOVERY Signed by the Honorable LaShonda A. Hunt on 8/26/2025. Mailed notice (gel,)

STATUS Report by Bigfoot 4X4, Inc.