Case Information

HOUSTON CIGAR ALLIANCE v. OFFICIAL HOUSTON CIGAR WEEK LLC, et al.

CIVIL ACTION NO. H-20-4115

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS HOUSTON DIVISION

May 13, 2021

Entered: May 13, 2021, Nathan Ochsner, Clerk

ORDER

Houston Cigar Alliance filed a motion for contempt, alleging that Official Houston Cigar Week and Elias Papillion violated this court's April 21 preliminary injunction by naming their cigar event "Texas Cigar Week." (Docket Entry No. 61). Given the short time between this event and the Alliance's event, the shared location in Houston, the nearly identical targeted audience, and the advertisement used by the defendants, which included advertising their event as "Texas Cigar Week Houston," the court finds that the defendants' event title is confusingly similar to the Alliance's "Houston Cigar Week." The court also finds that the defendants chose "Texas Cigar Week" in a deliberate attempt to circumvent this court's injunction.

If the defendants go forward with their Texas Cigar Week event, they must segregate all revenue from the event and place it into an interest-bearing account, until the court can determine whether the revenue, or some portion of it, must be disgorged.

The court also orders Papillion to deactivate the following social-media accounts by 5:00 p.m. (CT) on May 12, 2021:

Facebook
- Facebook.com/htowncigarweek
- Facebook.com/officialhoustoncigarweek
- The Houston Cigar Week/Texas Cigar Week group
Instagram
- Texascigarweek
- Texascigarweek_
- Texascigar_week
- Texascigarweekllc
TikTok
- Texascigarweek
Other Websites
- Houstoncigarweek-llc.square.site
- Linktr.ee/houstoncigarweek

By 5:00 p.m. (CT) on May 12, 2021, Papillion must remove all posts and content that reference Houston Cigar Week and Texas Cigar Week from the following social-media accounts:

Facebook
- Elias Papillion's personal account
- Stixx and Stonez
Instagram
- smokeyeli
- richpapillion
- Stixx_and_stonez
Other websites
- houstoncigarfestival.com

The defendants must download, or otherwise preserve, the existing posts and content on these social-media pages. The defendants must track the steps they take to comply with this order and certify to the court and the Alliance that they have complied fully with this order.

SIGNED on May 11, 2021, at Houston, Texas.

Lee H. Rosenthal

Chief United States District Judge