Tecnoglass, LLC v. RC Home Showcase, Inc.
Tecnoglass, LLC v. RC Home Showcase, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
The Plaintiff Tecnoglass, LLC, brings claims of copyright infringement, unfair competition under the Lanham Act, and several state-law causes of action against the Defendant, RC Home Showcase, Inc. (Compl., ECF No. 1.) Tecnoglass asserts that RC Home unlawfully copied its technical drawings and unfairly competed with its business. RC Home asks this Court to dismiss Tecnoglass's Complaint for failure to state a cause of action. (Mot., ECF No. 19). Tecnoglass responded (Resp., ECF No. 26), and RC Home replied (Reply, ECF No. 44). This matter is ripe for the Court's decision. For the reasons set forth in this Order, the Court denies in part and grants in part the Motion (ECF No. 19 ).
1. Background
In November 2013, Tecnoglass acquired intellectual property rights from non-party RC Aluminum Industries, Inc.,
Now at issue in this case are Tecnoglass's copyright registrations for six technical drawings of window wall systems and sliding glass doors. (Id. ¶ 19.) According to Tecnoglass, RC Home accessed the technical drawings from Tecnoglass's NOAs available on the Miami-Dade County website. (Id. ¶ 29.) RC Home then copied the technical drawings and used the drawings in RC Home's own NOA applications, representing that the technical drawings in its applications belonged to RC Home. (Id. ¶¶ 29-30.) Additionally, RC Home's product designations are similar to those used by Tecnoglass-compare, for example, "Tecnoglass HP3070" with "RC Home FX 370." (Id. ¶ 39.) RC Home has sold its products, which are based on Tecnoglass's designs, to existing, former, and potential Tecnoglass customers. (Id. ¶¶ 40-44.)
Due to RC Home's actions, Tecnoglass submitted expedited applications for copyright registration for six of the technical drawings. (Id. ¶ 47.) The U.S. Copyright Office registered the six technical drawings on September 22, 2016, the same date Tecnoglass filed the applications. (Id. ¶ 48.) Tecnoglass included the copyright registrations as exhibits to the Complaint. (Id. Exs. C-H.)
Based on these facts, the Complaint asserts seven counts against RC Home: (1) Copyright Infringement; (2) Injunction and Temporary Restraining Order; (3) Breach of Contract; (4) Unjust Enrichment; (5) Tortious Interference with Business Relationship; (6) Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act ("FDUTPA"); and (7) Federal Unfair Competition under the Lanham Act. Defendant moves to dismiss, arguing that: (1) Tecnoglass's copyright registrations are invalid as a matter of law; (2) the Lanham Act claim is simply a restated claim for copyright infringement, and therefore preempted by the Copyright Act; (3) as both federal claims are invalid, the Court should decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims; or (4) in the alternative, if the Court does not dismiss the federal claims, Tecnoglass's FDUTPA claim is preempted by the Copyright Act.
2. Legal Standard
When considering a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the Court must accept all of the Complaint's allegations as true, construing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Pielage v. McConnell ,
"A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Iqbal ,
Yet, where the allegations "possess enough heft" to suggest a plausible entitlement to relief, the case may proceed. See Twombly ,
3. Analysis
A. Copyright Infringement
To state a claim for copyright infringement, a plaintiff must allege (1) ownership of a valid copyright, and (2) that the defendant copied protected elements of the copyrighted material without authorization. See Herzog v. Castle Rock Entm't ,
RC Home attacks prong one of Tecnoglass's prima facie case, ownership of a valid copyright, in two ways. First, RC Home asserts that "[t]he allegations of Tecnoglass'[s] complaint establish that the works at issue were useful articles not subject to copyright." (Mot. at 4.) Second, RC Home argues that the U.S. Copyright Office regulations specifically exclude " 'individual standard features, such as windows, doors, and other staple building components[.]' " (Id. at 7 n.4 (quoting
As an initial matter, the Copyright Act protects two categories of works related to architecture: (1) "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works,"
Further, the Copyright Act does not provide blanket protection to all pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works. Instead, the statutory definition limits *1273copyright protection in two ways: (1) it excludes from protection the "mechanical or utilitarian aspects" of pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; and (2) it excludes from protection "the design of a useful article" whose specific features remain inseparable from "the utilitarian aspects of the article."
Returning to RC Home's first argument, RC Home attempts to place Tecnoglass's technical drawings into those exclusions by claiming that the technical drawings are "useful articles." However, the Copyright Act defines "useful article" as "an article having an intrinsic utilitarian function that is not merely to portray the appearance of the article or to convey information. "
RC Home's second argument-that copyright regulations specifically exclude "individual standard features, such as windows, doors, and other staple building components"-conflates the copyrighted technical drawings with the actual sliding glass doors and window wall systems depicted in those drawings. The regulation on which RC Home relies,
An "architectural work" is the design of a building as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings. The work includes the overall form as well as the arrangement and composition of spaces and elements in the design, but does not include individual standard features.
Again, Tecnoglass asserts copyright protection of technical drawings under section 102(a)(5). As such, section 102(a)(8) is not applicable to this case. See also Eales ,
Tecnoglass must still show that the technical drawings meet the minimum requirements of originality for copyright protection and that Tecnoglass did in fact expressly purchase the copyright rights from RC Aluminum. As RC Home argues, the originality requirement may be difficult to meet for designs largely dictated by building codes. (Mot. at 9-10.) See Feist Publ'ns v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., Inc. ,
B. Lanham Act Unfair Competition
RC Home argues that the Court should dismiss Tecnoglass's Lanham Act claim on preemption grounds. (Mot. at 10-14.) RC Home discusses at length cases that apply section 301(a) of the Copyright Act to preempt state-law claims. While RC Home suggests analysis of these cases is "instructive" (Id. at 12), the Court disagrees. Section 301(d) expressly states "[n]othing in this title annuls or limits any rights or remedies under any other Federal statute."
Still, courts must dismiss Lanham Act claims that amount to no more than a claim for copyright infringement because to "hold otherwise would be akin to finding that [the Lanham Act] created a species of perpetual patent and copyright, which Congress may not do." Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. ,
Section 1125(a)(1)(A) of the Lanham Act protects against unfair competition based on false designations of origin. To state a claim for false designation of origin, a plaintiff must allege it was "either actually or likely to be damaged by the fact that the defendant used ['in commerce'] a 'false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact, which [wa]s likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive ... as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of his or her goods, services, or commercial activities by another person.' " Lipscher v. LRP Publ'ns, Inc. ,
The parties disagree as to whether Tecnoglass alleges a "reverse passing off claim." (Mot. at 10-11, 11 n.5; Resp. at 10-11.) In bringing this claim Tecnoglass alleges that RC Home misappropriated Tecnoglass's drawings, used the drawings in RC Home's NOA applications, and represented falsely to Miami-Dade County that the drawings belonged to RC Home. (Compl. ¶¶ 29-30, 34-36, 101-03.) Tecnoglass further alleges that consumers could be confused by the substantially similar product names used by RC Home. (Id. ¶ 39.)
Despite Tecnoglass's conclusory denial, these allegations precisely constitute a reverse passing off claim. Dastar ,
Tecnoglass's claim amounts to no more than that RC Home misrepresented to Miami-Dade County that the technical drawings were its own. Tecnoglass's additional allegations regarding consumer confusion fail because the alleged consumer confusion results from similarly sounding product names-not any false representation, or designation by RC Home. Further, although not addressed by the parties, it is unclear to the Court that Tecnoglass's Lanham Act claim could survive even if it were not duplicative of its copyright claim. In particular, the Lanham Act protects against false designations used in commerce and likely to cause consumer confusion. It is unlikely that use of the drawings in the NOA application constitutes commerce, or that Miami-Dade County can constitute a consumer, or both.
Accordingly, the Court dismisses Count 7 for Lanham Act Unfair Competition as duplicative of Tecnoglass's copyright infringement claim.
C. FDUTPA
RC Home also argues that Tecnoglass's FDUTPA claim is preempted by the Copyright Act. (Mot. at 15-16.) As Tecnoglass acknowledges, a "Federal cause of action under the Lanham Act often mirrors a cause of action brought under FDUTPA." (Resp. at 11, ECF No. 26 (citing Suntree Techs. Inc. v. Ecosense, Int'l ,
D. Remaining State Law Claims
Regarding Tecnoglass's remaining state-law claims, the only argument put forth by RC Home is that the Court should, in its discretion, decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over these claims. (Mot. at 2.) This argument presumes dismissal of both Tecnoglass's federal causes of action, over which the Court has original jurisdiction. As discussed above, Tecnoglass sufficiently alleges a claim for copyright infringement. The Court will not dismiss the remaining state law claims on this ground.
However, the Court notes that to succeed on its state law claims, Tecnoglass will need to satisfy the Eleventh Circuit's extra element test to avoid copyright preemption. See Bateman v. Mnemonics, Inc. ,
4. Conclusion
After having reviewed the parties' arguments, the Complaint, and the relevant legal authorities, this Court grants in part and denies in part RC Home's Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 19 ). Tecnoglass's claim for copyright infringement (Count 1) remains, along with the state law claims for injunctive relief (Count 2), breach of contract (Count 3), unjust enrichment (Count 4), and tortious interference with business relationship (Count 5). Tecnoglass's claim for Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices under Florida Law is dismissed (Count 6). And Tecnoglass's claim for unfair competition under the Lanham Act is dismissed (Count 7). As Counts 6 and 7 are dismissed on preemption grounds, the deficient allegations cannot be fixed with amendment; therefore, the Court dismisses these claims with prejudice.
Tecnoglass shall have until February 24, 2017, to file its Amended Complaint, consistent with this Order. RC Home shall file a response no later than fourteen days after service of the Amended Complaint.
Done and ordered , in chambers at Miami, Florida, on February 10, 2017.
Tecnoglass alleges that RC Aluminum is "not affiliated to [sic] Defendant RC Home...." (Compl. ¶ 3). Although not germane to the Court's analysis, the Court notes that at the time Tecnoglass acquired its rights from RC Aluminum, Raul Casares served as president of both RC Aluminum and RC Home. Corporate records are publicly available at the State of Florida, Division of Corporations website. In accordance with Federal Rule of Evidence 201(c)-(d), a "district court may take judicial notice of certain facts.... Public records are among the permissible facts that a district court may consider." Universal Express, Inc. v. U.S. S.E.C. ,
An NOA itself is a government form and not subject to copyright protection. Cf. G.S. Rasmussen & Assocs., Inc. v. Kalitta Flying Serv., Inc. ,
Throughout the Complaint Tecnoglass casually interchanges the terms "drawing" and "design," which serves only to complicate and confuse the statutory analysis. However, the copyright registrations at issue here clearly show that Tecnoglass seeks to assert a copyright infringement claim as to "technical drawings." See Compl. Ex. C-H.
Reference
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- TECNOGLASS, LLC v. RC HOME SHOWCASE, INC.
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