Persis Int’l, Inc. v. Burgett, Inc., No. 09 C 7451, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Sep. 19, 2011) (Guzman, J.).

Judge Guzman granted in part plaintiffs’ (collectively "Persis") Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f) motion to strike defendant Burgett’s affirmative defenses in this Lanham Act case involving the mark SOHMER. The Court struck those affirmative defenses that just restated the legal standards – failure to state a claim and estoppel.

The Court allowed Burgett’s statute of limitations defense because Burgett sufficiently pled that Persis had delayed more than the required three years in bringing its action.

Finally, the Court dismissed three affirmative defenses based upon an allegedly fraudulent document submitted to the Patent and Trademark Office. Burgett admitted that the allegedly fraudulent document was submitted in a separate application. And Burgett offered no reason that the other application was relevant to this case.