Little Tikes Co. v. Kid Station Toys, Ltd., No. 08 C 1935, 2008 WL 1805379 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 18, 2008) (Gottschall, J.).
Judge Gottschall denied plaintiff Little Tikes’ Motion for Temporary Restraining Order ("TRO") to prevent defendant Kid Station Toys, Ltd. ("Kid Station") from selling Kid Station electric toys using Little Tikes’ trademarks. From 2003 until February 2008, the parties had a license agreement ("Agreement") pursuant to which Kid Station sold its electric toys using the Little Tikes trademarks. In February 2008, Little Tikes canceled the Agreement pursuant to a provision allowing it to do so for, among other reasons, unsafe toys. Kids Station allegedly had a toy cellphone recalled because it was a potential choking hazard. Kids Station disputed the validity of the termination and continued selling its toys using the Little Tikes trademarks.
The Court held that Little Tikes had shown sufficient likelihood of success on the merits. Its trademarks ownership was undisputed and its success regarding the validity of its Agreement termination was "better than negligible." Additionally, in the parties’ Agreement, Kids Station stipulated to Little Tikes’ irreparable harm.
But the Court held that Kid Station would be irreparably harmed by a TRO because it would not be able to meet its customer obligations, which would be a serious blow to its business. And, the Court held that Kid Station’s irreparable harm from a TRO outweighed Little Tikes’ irreparable harm without a TRO. While Kid Station may not be able to recover its customers, Little Tikes had already approved Kid Station’s existing toys and could recover royalties for any sales. The Court, therefore, denied the TRO.