General Linen Service, Inc. brings suit against General Linen Service Co., Inc., asserting various state law claims and a claim under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Defendant asserts five counterclaims, seeking cancellation of the plaintiffs trademark (Counts I and II) and alleging claims for violation of the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act, N.H.Rev.Stat. Ann. ch. 358-A (Count III), intentional interference with contractual relationships (Count IV), and “Unfair Competition and Deceptive Trade Practices under the Common Law and the Lan-ham Act” (Count V). Plaintiff moves to dismiss Counts I, II, III, and V of the counterclaims. Defendant objects.
Background
Defendant, General Linen Service Co., Inc. is a company located in Somersworth, New Hampshire, which provides linen and uniform rental services to the healthcare, restaurant, and hospitality communities in New England. For purposes of this order, the court will refer to defendant as “GL Somersworth.” Plaintiff, General Linen Service, Inc. is a company located in New-buryport, Massachusetts, which provides similar services in New England. The court will refer to plaintiff as “GL New-buryport.”
On October 27, 2005, GL Newburyport filed a federal trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”), Serial No. 78741710, for the mark ’“GENERAL LINEN SERVICE” used in connection with rental of ■table linens and uniforms (“GLS mark”). In the trademark application, GL New-buryport claimed that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, no other person, firm, corporation or association had the right to use the GLS mark in United States commerce, and that it had been using the mark in United States commerce since January 1,1933.
On May 3, 2006, the PTO issued an “Office Action,” in which it refused to register the GLS mark because the mark was “merely descriptive” of GL Newburyport’s services described in the trademark application. On October 2, 2006, GL Newbury-port submitted a response to the Office Action. As part of its response, GL New-buryport included the sworn affidavit of its president, Diane Whitney Wallace, who stated that “the term ‘GENERAL’ has become distinctive of the goods and/or services through GL Newburyport’s substantially exclusive and continuous use [of the term] in commerce for at least five years immediately before the date” of the affidavit.
On February 27, 2007, “the PTO granted registration for the [GLS mark] to GL Newburyport.” On April 9, 2010, GL Newburyport sent a cease and desist letter to GL Somersworth based upon its claim of exclusive rights in the name GENERAL LINEN SERVICE. The letter asserted rights based on GL Newburyport’s Federal Registration, and demanded that GL Somersworth cease and desist from using the GLS mark.
On October 24, 2012, GL Newburyport filed with the PTO an affidavit of continued use and incontestability of the GLS mark (“affidavit of continued use”). The affidavit stated that the mark was in continuous use for five consecutive years after the date of registration. The PTO subse
GL Somersworth alleges that GL New-buryport made intentional misrepresentations in the trademark application, the response to the Office Action, and the affidavit of continued use. GL Somers-worth alleges that, despite GL Newbury-port’s representations to the contrary in its submissions to the PTO, GL New-buryport knew that its use of the GLS mark was not “substantially exclusive” and that it had not continuously used the mark for either the five years prior to the response to the Office Action or the five years prior to the affidavit of continued use. In addition, GL Somersworth alleges that the terms “General,” “Linen,” and “Service” do not qualify for trademark registration because the mark is too generic and/or has not gained any secondary meaning.
Standard of Review
In a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the court accepts as true all factual allegations contained in the counterclaims. Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
Discussion
GL Somersworth alleges five counterclaims: Cancellation of GL Newburyport’s Federal Trademark Registration on the Basis of Fraudulent Procurement (Count I); Cancellation of GL Newburyport’s Federal Trademark Registration on the Basis of Genericness (Count II); Violation of the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act (Count III); Intentional Interference with Contractual Relationships (Count IV); and “Unfair Competition and Deceptive Trade Practices under the Common Law and the Lanham Act” (Count V). GL Newburyport moves to dismiss Counts I, II, III, and V.
A. Count I — Fraud in the Procurement
GL Newburyport argues that Count I should be dismissed because GL Somers-worth’s allegations are based on “information and belief.” GL Newburyport also contends that Count I should be dismissed because GL Somersworth fails to allege that it had superior legal rights in the GLS mark or that, even if it did, that GL New-buryport knew of GL Somersworth’s superior rights.
1. Allegations Based on Information and Belief
A “plaintiff[ ] must state the circumstances constituting fraud in the procurement of a registered trademark with particularity in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b).” Colon-Lorenzana,
GL Newburyport argues that GL Somersworth has not met Rule 9(b)’s heightened pleading requirements. GL Newburyport contends that a claim for fraudulent procurement of a trademark containing allegations based on information and belief must set forth the facts on which the belief is founded, which the counterclaims fail to do. It cites as an example paragraph fourteen of the counterclaims, which states: “On information and belief, at the time of the filing of [the application], GL Newburyport had actual knowledge that it had not used the identical mark GENERAL LINEN SERVICE in U.S. commerce since 1933.” It argues that allegations such as those contained in paragraph fourteen are insufficient to state a claim for fraudulent procurement of a trademark because GL Somersworth does not provide any source for the information or reasons for the belief.
GL Newburyport is correct that a party alleging fraud in the procurement of
The cited statements in the counterclaims are sufficient to allege fraudulent procurement of a trademark based on information and belief. See Meckatzer Lowenbrau Benedikt Weib KG v. White Gold, LLC,
In it’s reply, GL Newburyport further argues that “there are no specific allegations that GL Newburyport knowingly made false, material misrepresentations of fact in procuring the trademark registration with the intent to defraud the USP-TO.” “This court ordinarily does not consider argument raised for the first time in a reply memorandum....” Contour Design, Inc. v. Chance Mold Steel Co. Ltd., 09-CV-451-JL,
In sum, GL Somersworth sufficiently alleged fraud based on information and belief.
GL Newburyport argues that Count I fails because GL Somersworth does not allege that it had superior legal rights to the GLS mark. GL Newburyport contends that the absence of such an allegation is fatal to a claim for fraud in the procurement of a trademark. In response, GL Somersworth concedes that it does not allege that it had superior legal rights to the mark. It argues, however, that an allegation of superior legal rights is only required when a plaintiff alleges fraudulent procurement of a trademark on the basis of superior rights. GL Somersworth further contends that its fraudulent procurement claim is not based on that theory and, therefore, an allegation of superior legal rights is not required.
In support of dismissal, GL Newbury-port quotes the following language from Intellimedia Sports Inc. v. Intellimedia Corp.,
To withstand a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff claiming that the declaration or oath in defendant’s application for registration was executed fraudulently, in that there was another use of the same or a confusingly similar mark at the time the oath was signed, must allege particular facts which, if proven, would establish that: (1) there was in fáct another use of the same or a confusingly similar mark at the time the oath was signed; (2) the other user had legal rights superior to applicant’s; (3) applicant knew that the other user had rights in the mark superior to applicant’s, and either believed that a likelihood of confusion would result from applicant’s use of its mark or had no reasonable basis for believing otherwise; and that (4) applicant, in failing to disclose these facts to the Patent and Trademark Office, intended to procure a registration to which it was not entitled.
In the counterclaims, GL Somersworth alleges several misrepresentations that GL Newburyport made in its submissions to the PTO that were relied on by the PTO in granting the trademark and incontestable status. These include statements that GL Newburyport had used the mark continuously for five years prior to the submission of the trademark application and the affidavit of continued use, that the word “GENERAL” and the phrase “GENERAL
In its reply, GL Newburyport contends that to the extent Count I is based on allegations that it fraudulently represented to .the PTO that it was entitled to an exclusive right to the GLS mark despite knowing that others, including GL Somers-worth, were also using the mark, that claim is subject to the Intellimedia standard and must be dismissed. It argues that “[t]he allegation that third parties were using the mark at the time the oath was signed is immaterial unless those third parties had superior rights.” • Reply at 5. That allegation, however, may be relevant even absent a “superior rights” claim. See, e.g., Fair Isaac Corp. v. Experian Info. Solutions, Inc.,
Accepting as true all well-pleaded factual allegations in the counterclaims and drawing all reasonable inferences in GL Somersworth’s favor, the counterclaims sufficiently allege enough facts to set forth a claim for cancellation of a trademark on the basis of fraudulent procurement. Whether GL Somersworth has any eviden-tiary support is a separate issue, one that is better addressed in a motion for summary judgment. See Gaffrig Performance Indus., Inc. v. Livorsi Marine, Inc., 99 C 7778,
B. Count II — Genericness
GL Somersworth alleges that the GLS mark does not qualify for registration under the Lanham Act because it “is generic and/or has not gained any secondary meaning.” GL Newburyport argues that the counterclaim should be dismissed because GL Somersworth does not allege the existence of any evidence that would demonstrate that the mark is generic.
The parties appear to agree that “[w]hether a [mark] is [generic] is a question of fact ... determined from the viewpoint of the relevant purchasing public.” Scanlan,
GL Newburyport argues that although GL Somersworth does not have to provide evidence of the public’s understanding with the pleading itself, “it does have to allege that such evidence exists.” GL Newburyport has not cited, and the court is not aware of, any case law impos
C. Count III — Consumer Protection Act
In Count III, GL Somersworth alleges that: “By sending a cease and desist letter when GL Newburyport knew that the alleged [GLS] mark was generic and incapable of servicing [sic] as an indicator of source, GL Newburyport engaged in a scheme of advancing groundless trademark infringement claims based upon an invalid, abandoned, generic, or otherwise unenforceable mark.” GL Newburyport moves to dismiss the claim, arguing that “[t]he fact defendant received a cease and desist letter that it did not take seriously falls woefully short of articulating a CPA claim.” It further argues that “given the fact that defendant did not take the letter seriously, how can it possibly claim to have been deceived or otherwise injured?”
The New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act, RSA 358-A:2, provides: “It shall be unlawful for any person to use any unfair method of competition or any unfair or deceptive act or practice in the conduct of any trade or commerce within this state.” Practices that violate the Act include “[u]sing deceptive representations ... in connection with goods or services.” RSA 358-A:2, VII. Other commercial activity that is not specifically listed may violate the Act if “the objectionable conduct [] attaints] a level of rascality that would raise an eyebrow of someone inured to the rough and tumble of the world of commerce.” Axenics, Inc. v. Turner Const. Co.,
GL Somersworth’s Consumer Protection Act claim is, in essence, that GL Newburyport attempted to enforce a fraudulently obtained and generic trademark. GL Newburyport cites no cases or other authority to suggest that GL Som-ersworth’s allegations cannot support a Consumer Protection Act claim in New Hampshire. “The New Hampshire Supreme Court frequently looks to interpretations of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, M.G.L. [ch.] 93A, when interpreting the CPA.” Forrester Envt’l Servs., Inc. v. Wheelabrator Tech., Inc., No. 10-cv-154-JL,
Accordingly, GL Newburyport has not shown grounds sufficient to dismiss GL Somersworth’s Consumer Protection Act claim.
D. Count V — Unfair Competition Under the Lanham Act and Common Law
GL Somersworth alleges that GL New-buryport’s actions, including its alleged “advance of meritless claims in a scheme to exact unfounded and baseless settlements from GL Somersworth,” constituted unfair competition in violation of the Lan-ham Act and under New Hampshire common law. GL Newburyport moves to dismiss Count V, but does not provide any meaningful argument as to that count. GL Newburyport argues simply that to the extent Count V is based on allegations that support the fraudulent-procurement or Consumer Protection Act claim, it should be dismissed because those counts should also be dismissed.
As discussed above, viewed in the light most favorable to GL Somersworth, the counterclaims allege enough facts to support a fraudulent-procurement claim and a Consumer Protection Act claim. Accordingly, GL Newburyport’s motion to dismiss is denied as to Count V.
Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, GL New-buryport’s motion to dismiss (document no. 28) is denied.
SO ORDERED.
Notes
. The background is taken from the allegations in the defendant’s counterclaims viewed in the light most favorable to defendant.
. GL Somersworth alleges that "the PTO granted incontestable status to the [GLS mark] on February 27, 2007,” the date the PTO granted registration for the mark. Counterclaims ¶41. It appears, however, that the GLS mark could obtain incontestable status no earlier than February 27, 2012, five years after it was first registered. See Dorpan, S.L. v. Hotel Melia, Inc.,
. "Descriptiveness and genericness are not claims for fraud or mistake and are therefore outside the heightened pleading requirements in Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(b).” Green Prods. Co. v. Black Flag Brands LLC, No. C-10-2121,
. The court notes that cases interpreting the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act and cases interpreting the Massachusetts. Consumer Protection Act have held that a plaintiff cannot maintain a Consumer Protection Act claim unless the plaintiff was either injured by the defendant's alleged fraudulent misconduct or was engaged in a commercial transaction with the defendant. See Forrester Envt’l Servs.,
