January 23, 2020
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As reported by Global News, Nelvana Enterprises Inc. has won a default judgment against Treehouse Dispensary LLC over the copyright infringement of its Treehouse logo. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based cannabis dispensary had been using a similar logo in its stores and on the packaging and marketing of its cannabis products.
Nelvana, a Toronto animation studio owned by Corus Entertainment, produces and distributes children’s animated content, including through the children’s television channel Treehouse TV. It filed a U.S. lawsuit against Treehouse Dispensary in July of 2019, accusing it of infringing copyright by wilfully copying and using a confusingly similar imitation of the logo to market and sell its cannabis products.
Although Treehouse Dispensary previously denied the infringement claims, it failed to plead or defend itself in court, resulting in the default judgment against it. The Oklahoma dispensary was ordered by the U.S. Federal Court judge to stop using the Treehouse logo and to pay Nelvana’s legal fees, which total over US$74,000.
Authors: Sam Galway and Megan Brooks