ST. LOUIS --7-Eleven Inc. is suing 7 Plus LLC and Shadi Khair for trademark infringement, counterfeiting, dilution, unfair competition. Khair operates the 7 Plus convenience store in St. Louis.
“The 7 Plus mark … is presented in a stylized logo format nearly identical to that used by 7-Eleven with its 7-Eleven logo, featuring the text ‘PLUS,’ centered across a large numeral ‘7’ with a curved vertical shank. … Similar to the 7-Eleven logo, the 7 Plus logo is depicted in the colors red, green and white,” 7-Eleven said in documents filed in a case with the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri.
The c-store is using the 7 Plus trade dress without permission from 7-Eleven.
“Use of the 7 Plus marks is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake or to deceive customers and potential customers of the parties as to some affiliation, connection or association of [the[ defendants’ business with 7-Eleven, or as to the origin, sponsorship or approval of [the] defendants’ goods and/or services,” said 7-Eleven.
“[The] defendants have set out on a deliberate course of conduct to deceive consumers into believing that the infringing site is connected, associated or affiliated with 7-Eleven in order to trade on 7-Eleven’s valuable goodwill,” it said.
7-Eleven officials said they have notified Khair of its trademark rights and tried to resolve the matter with him before filing the lawsuit.
The company is asking the court to stop the defendant from using the trade dress and remove all elements of it immediately. 7-Eleven is also seeking triple damages up to $2 million from the infringement, as well as attorney’s fees.
Last year, 7-Eleven filed nine such federal trademark suits nationally, Greg Upchurch, owner of LegalMetric, a St. Louis federal litigation analysis company, told The St. Louis Business Journal. “On average they are settled in about two months from case filing--long enough for the infringer to have received a bill for legal services,” he said.
Irving, Texas-based 7‑Eleven operates, franchises and licenses more than 10,700 7-Eleven convenience stores in North America. Globally, approximately 58,900 7-Eleven stores serve customers in 17 countries.
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