A Judge Just Scolded an Art-Licensing Company for Trying to Rush Through a Lawsuit About ‘Knock-Off Unicorn Products’ During a Pandemic

A federal judge in Chicago
slammed a Spanish art licensing company for suing alleged online
counterfeiters for making products adorned with unicorns and
elves.

No, it wasn’t just a slam. It
was as if the judge, drawing inspiration from local legend Michael
Jordan, took off from the free-throw line to dunk on the company,
shattering the backboard on the way down. 

“The world is facing a real
emergency,” the judge wrote. “Plaintiff is not.”

In the lawsuit filed earlier
this month, the licensing company, Art Ask Agency, sought a
temporary restraining order to halt “counterfeiters” in China from
selling iPhone cases, purses, and other wares bearing the designs
of British fantasy artist Anne Stokes, whose license it
owns. 

Stokes is known for her stylish
illustrations of mythical creatures: dragons soaring before full
moons, fairies cradling crystal balls, unicorns interlocking horns
in the shape of a heart. They have names like ”Fantasy Forrest” and
“Skull Embrace.” 

The judge pushed the proposed
hearing from mid-March to April 13. But Art Ask Agency was not satisfied. The company
filed both a motion for reconsideration, asking the hearing to be
held immediately, and a second emergency motion, which was assigned
to a different judge.

But th ended the back-and-forth
with a delectable pair of March 18 orders that put the company
in its place.

“This case involves counterfeit
unicorn drawings… Meanwhile, the world is in the midst of a global
pandemic,” the judge began in his
dismissal of the company’s request to hold the
hearing. 

“[The company] has not
demonstrated that it will suffer an irreparable injury from waiting
a few weeks… One wonders if the fake fantasy products are
experiencing brisk sales at the moment,” the judge, who might be
the voice of his generation, went on.

After that he added
a quote from Elihu
Root, the secretary of state under Teddy Roosevelt: “About half of
the practice of a decent lawyer is telling would-be clients that
they are damned fools and should stop.” Chef’s kiss.

Then, in a motion denying the
restraining order, came the coup de grace: “To put it bluntly,
[the company’s] proposed order seems insensitive to others in the
current environment,” the judge continued. “Simply put, trademark
infringement is an important consideration, but so is the strain
that the rest of [the] country is facing, too.” 

“It is important to keep in
perspective the costs and benefits of forcing everyone to drop what
they’re doing to stop the sale of knock−off unicorn products, in
the midst of a pandemic,” he continued. “Plaintiff has come up
short (by a wide margin).”

Art Ask Agency did not respond
to a request for comment.

The post A Judge Just Scolded an Art-Licensing Company for
Trying to Rush Through a Lawsuit About ‘Knock-Off Unicorn Products’
During a Pandemic appeared first on artnet News.