DP Creations v. Reborn Baby Mart ( 2021 )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF UTAH DP CREATIONS, LLC, MEMORANDUM DECISION AND Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S SUPPLEMENTAL EX PARTE MOTION v. FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER AND ASSET FREEZE REBORN BABY MART, et al., FREDACTEDILED UNDER SEAL Defendants. Case No. 2:21-cv-00574-JNP District Judge Jill N. Parrish Before the court is a supplemental ex parte motion for a temporary restraining order and asset freeze filed by Plaintiff DP Creations, LLC d/b/a Bountiful Baby (“Bountiful Baby” or “Plaintiff”). BACKGROUND Bountiful Baby is a Utah limited liability company with its principal place of business at 2140 South 3600 West, West Valley City, Utah. Bountiful Baby does business in the District of Utah, has numerous employees and customers in the District of Utah, and has allegedly suffered injury in the District of Utah. This lawsuit names as defendants five unknown Chinese entities (Reborn Baby Mart, Reborn Box, Reborn Baby Stores, Love Reborn Dolls, and Reborn Dolls Shop) and four entities with various connections to the unknown Chinese entities (Nine9Light Company, LTD Information Technology Co., Ltd. Co., Jozzby Group, Inc., and AIMARK Ltd.) (collectively, “Defendants”). The Defendants operate websites, accept PayPal payments, and correspond with customers through email. Bountiful Baby specializes in selling kits and supplies for making “reborn dolls.” Reborn dolls are intended to be indistinguishable from a real baby, and Bountiful Baby’s dolls are particularly known for their uncanny realism. Bountiful Baby alleges that Defendants sell counterfeit Bountiful Baby products on their websites and mislead consumers by using Bountiful Baby’s copyrighted images and trademarks. Bountiful Baby alleges copyright infringement, unfair competition, and common law trademark infringement. ANALYSIS Bountiful Baby previously moved for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) and asset freeze to freeze the assets in Defendants’ PayPal account. The court granted those motions and issued a TRO to prevent Defendants from dissipating assets in order to preserve the possibility of recovery for Bountiful Baby. In accordance with the TRO, PayPal identified three bank accounts that have received proceeds from Defendants’ PayPal accounts. The financial records from PayPal demonstrate that money is first paid into Defendants’ PayPal accounts, then transferred from PayPal to the associated bank accounts. Bountiful Baby now moves to freeze the assets in these three bank accounts. Based on the information provided by PayPal pursuant to the court’s prior TRO, Bountiful Baby identifies one bank account associated with PayPal account number 6988 (associated with Reborn Baby Mart, Reborn Box, Reborn Baby Stores, and Love Reborn Dolls). Between September 5, 2021 and October 15, 2021, the aforementioned PayPal account transferred $35,466.82 into an account at Community Federal Savings Bank. Bountiful Baby also identifies two bank accounts associated with PayPal account number 8139 (associated with Ltd. Co. and AIMARK, Ltd.). Betw-een February 1, 2020 and May 20, 2020, the aforementioned PayPal account transferred $ into an account at Community Federal Savings Bank. Additionally, between June 15, 2020 and November 19, 2021, the same PayPal account transferred $ into a Deutsche Bank account. PayPal records, in conjunction with test purchases by Bountiful Baby, demonstrate that the accounts contain transferred funds that originated from purchases of allegedly counterfeit products. For the reasons stated in the court’s November 22, 2021 memorandum decision, the court GRANTS Bountiful Baby’s motion to preserve Plaintiff’s right to an accounting and ensure the availability of permanent relief. ORDER The court GRANTS Plaintiff’s supplemental ex parte motion for a temporary restraining order and asset freeze (ECF No. 18). Refer to the docket for a copy of the Temporary Restraining Order. DATED December 2, 2021. BY THE COURT ______________________________ Jill N. Parrish United States District Court Judge