MANIMAL has settled recently its lawsuit against VIRUS Intl., LLC, and Ryan Rubiano for trademark infringement, false advertising, unfair competition, and more.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES, June 29, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- MANIMAL, LLC. (?MANIMAL?), the superior training accessories and apparel brand for serious athletes, has settled recently its lawsuit against VIRUS Intl., LLC, and Ryan Rubiano (?Defendants?) for trademark infringement, false advertising, unfair competition, and false designation practices.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claimed that VIRUS infringed on MANIMAL?s trademarks starting in August 2020 by placing the MANIMAL trademark on VIRUS products and selling them in ecommerce. VIRUS launched a whole ?MANIMAL? product line, and heavily promoted it during the November 2020 Black Friday sale, confusing long-time MANIMAL customers by implying a false, misleading association with MANIMAL. VIRUS admitted that it never conducted any investigation into who owned the MANIMAL trademark before slapping it on VIRUS products, and repeatedly ignored outreach efforts from MANIMAL to discuss and resolve this infringement. MANIMAL was forced to send a cease-and-desist letter, and ultimately to file a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles to stop VIRUS?s efforts. Under the settlement, VIRUS is prohibited from ever using the MANIMAL trademark and must pay an undisclosed sum to MANIMAL for the harm caused by the infringement.

George Corbo, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MANIMAL noted the heavy toll his business experienced due to the VIRUS infringement. ?While our small business was being decimated by COVID and leading into the biggest online holiday shopping period in history, VIRUS willingly and knowingly took our name, launched a collection of products, advertised heavily to promote it, banked on the goodwill and 10 years of work we?d put in building the MANIMAL brand, and used it to their monetary advantage.?

Corbo continued ?It?s very hard to un-ring a bell and we have to make a massive effort to correct the misleading association VIRUS created with our products, including the new line of apparel my company plans to launch under the MANIMAL brand this year. Even though VIRUS may have stopped using our brand, VIRUS products using it continue to pop up on ecommerce sites.?

Added Corbo, ?We just could not believe that VIRUS commonly launches products and product lines with trademarks without any investigation into whether they have the right to use them. The true MANIMAL is a brand built on the belief that we have the opportunity to impact society around us through our message and business choices. That is why we chose to take a stand about VIRUS?s infringement, because we believe that it is important to respect the intellectual property rights in all brands and not let a large organization like VIRUS get away with blatant misuse. We are glad that we were able to settle this dispute and move forward with our MANIMAL philosophy and brand.?

About MANIMAL, LLC.
MANIMAL is the superior training accessories and apparel brand for serious athletes. Never forgetting our roots, we approach every product the same way we did our first: built to last and to perform at the highest level. We strive for perfection in our products because we know your training demands it, and as athletes?so do we. For more than a decade, our offerings have been proven and praised by athletes and competitors in Bodybuilding, CrossFit, Powerlifting, Strongman, and Weightlifting. To learn more, visit manimal.com.

KJ Blattenbauer
MANIMAL
hello@kjblattenbauer.com
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