Complaint Review: DLA Piper US LLP - Philadelphia Pennsylvania

It's amazing how big business (B&G Equipment) will take the time and money to hire, in my opinion "bottomfeeders" to harass and intimidate small business owners. I guess there was a shortage of ambulances to chase on Jan. 31st, 2012 .

Today, 2/4/2012, I recieved a threatening letter from a Darius C. Gambino "lawyer", of DLA Piper US LLP law firm in Philadelphia, PA. with a start of afrivolous action against my company, and clearcut harassment in an attempt to damage my business and ability as a small business owner to make a living.

This "lawyer" made reference to "Trademark/Trade Dress Infringement" on behalf of B&G Equipment Co., Inc., Referencing TM Reg. No. 3,239,891

Here's the deal. I am a SMALL business owner who owns a pest control supply distributorship, and equipment service center inn Sarasota, FL. I sell all kinds of pesticides, spray equipment, and supplies, and do service on all kinds of equipment.

For those of you who are not familiar with this industry, or the common players and products, I will try to clarify these things as I go. B&G Equipment Co. has the most common and most popular spray equipment available to the pest control operator.

Included in these products is a 1 gallon pump sprayer of stainless steel construction on the tank, and assorted other materials such as brass and copper etc making up the spray wand, nozzle, and pump assembly.

Here's where the problem comes in. I sell all common lines of products in my warehouse, and among them is the "Thor" line of products from Ensystex. Although Ensystex does not have official "distributors, I do have an "authorized reseller" authority for their products, INCLUDING a newly released product being a 1 gallon stainless steel pump sprayer branded "Accuthor" which is a totally legal product, and this battle has already been fought (legally) between Ensystex and B&G on this very issue. Understand that I am NOT an employee or in any official capacity with Ensystex for legal purposes. I simply chose to offer their high quality products in my warehouse, as I persobnally liked their products and the way they do business. They go to great pains to be compliant and do things right, as do I.

With that said, there is no "trademark infringement" issue here, and the threatening letter I got from this law firm is clearly nothing but harassment, as I see it, in an attempt to engage a back door battle on a case they already lost.

DLA Piper is engaging in illegal and unjustified harassment of my company (Southern Chemical & Equipment, LLC.) and is doing damage to my business and my ability to make a living.

It should also be noted that when I started this business in April of 2011, I contacted B&G with regards to getting a distributorship set up to sell their products, and they blew me off. B&G Equipment has no interest in dealing with small business, in my opinion, and this action proves that. B&G obviously wants to squash any small business they can, even with frivolous action such as this.

For the record, I will NOT "cease and desist" in the sale or representation of these products until a JUDGE orders me to. I am not doing anything wrong, and there is no trademark infringement here on my part.

I advertised this item on Ebay, where I routinely list various items to advertise my business, and get search enginge rankings, etc.

I advertised this new product on Ebay less than 2 weeks ago, and already B&G is having a fit. They filed a false report with Ebay, and had my listing removed. I called Ebay and straightened it out, and they said to re-list my item and they would remove the account violation from my record.

Anyone can clearly see the major differences between these two items, and in my opinion, the Accuthor Sprayer from Ensystex is a far superior product. I have used both brands of sprayers, and I repair the B&G products daily in my shop.

I did absolutely nothing unethical or illegal here. The ONLY reference I made in my Ebay listing that I can see upset them was in my title where I simply stated "Upgrade from your B&G". This is a fair statement, as the Accuthor Sprayer from Ensystex has many major differences, ie: "upgrades", design improvements, etc. I was NOT representing this product as a B&G, nor did I make any desparaging remarks about B&G or their products. This unit is CLEARLY an "upgrade" to any pest control operator currently using the B&G product. I will enjoy getting this into a courtroom in front of a jury. Not my first rodeo, and I won't be intimidated or harassed. By anyone.



B&G Products had my listing removed from my Ebay listings in a fraudulent manner. I urge all of you to go to that listing for the Accuthor Stainless Steel 1 Gallon Sprayer and see for yourself, or you can come to my shop and compare the two for yourself! The Ebay account of mine that was fraudulently attacked is sarasota_fl_pest_supply, where the item is currently relisted and will be until a judge tells me otherwise.

I need to hear from any other victims affected by harassment by B&G or this law firm, as I plan to countersue them for damages, and also will seek mdisciplinary action against this Darius C. Gambino, for his unethical behavior, ie: harrassment under guise of law, as there is no valid cause of action here.