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Yamaha Files Suit Against Yamoto and Patriot

Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. and Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. filed suit in Los Angeles Federal Court against Yamoto Motor Corporation and Patriot Motorcycles Corporation for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false designation of origin, false advertising, copyright infringement and unfair competition.
Yamaha is the original designer, manufacturer and seller of the Raptor line of ATVs and TT-R125 off-road motorcycles and seeks a permanent injunction against the defendants, alleging that they are flooding the marketplace with inferior, copycat products.
Yamaha seeks both treble and punitive damages in its complaint and will ask the court to compel the defendants to deliver to Yamaha for destruction all products, containers, packages, labels and advertising materials that infringe Yamaha’s trademarks.
Yamaha alleges in its complaint that Yamoto entered the United States market in 2003 by advertising, promoting and offering for sale the Yamoto line of ATVs and off-road motorcycles, which Yamaha says bear strikingly similar resemblances to Yamaha’s Raptor line of ATVs and its TT-R125 line of off-road motorcycles.
Yamaha further alleges that Yamoto not only attempted to confuse the public through the adoption of names, logos, colors and appearances that are confusingly similar to Yamaha’s, but also by copying Yamaha’s website, using a web address almost identical to Yamaha’s web address and failing to disclose the Chinese origin of the Yamoto products in violation of United States law.
Yamaha claims that the distribution of these products is an obvious and deliberate attempt to trade off of Yamaha’s reputation and goodwill in the industry.
Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., Cypress, Calif., is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tokyo-based Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd.
Yamoto Motor Corporation (www.yamoto-motor.com) is based in Union City, Calif. Patriot Motorcycles Corporation (www.patriotmotorcycles.com) is based in San Clemente, Calif.

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