C&K Plumbing sues C & K Plumbing and Subcontracting over a trade name

The parties and the name

The case is C&K Plumbing, LLC v. C & K Plumbing and Subcontracting, LLC d/b/a CKP, LLC, No. 1:26-cv-03077 (W.D. Tex., Austin Division), filed October 30, 2026, ECF No. 1 (19 pages), with a jury demand. The complaint says C&K Plumbing, LLC is a Texas limited liability company formed in December 2016, with a mailing address in Weir, Texas, and that it has used the trade name C&K Plumbing continuously since then for commercial and residential plumbing services in Central Texas, including Georgetown, North Austin, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Manor, Cedar Park, Leander, Taylor, and Liberty Hill. It says the defendant is a Texas limited liability company formed in July 2021, with its principal place of business in Fort Worth, Texas. The complaint relies on rights in the unregistered trade name.

Jurisdiction over the Lanham Act claim is pleaded under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338(a) and 15 U.S.C. § 1121(a). Jurisdiction over the Texas unfair-competition claim is pleaded under 28 U.S.C. § 1338(b), and supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining Texas claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a). Venue is pleaded in this district and division under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2).

The 2023 name dispute and later confusion

The complaint alleges that the dominant portion of the defendant's legal name, C&K Plumbing, is identical to the plaintiff's trade name, and that the added words "and Subcontracting, LLC" do not distinguish the companies. It alleges that on July 12, 2023, the plaintiff sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding that the defendant stop using C&K Plumbing in all marketing, trade, online, and business use by August 12, 2023, and that the plaintiff refused to accept "and Subcontracting" as a differentiator. It alleges that the defendant wrote, "I have filed for a name change with the SOS and we are working to remove the name C&K Plumbing and Subcontracting from all of our social media," and that the plaintiff treated that statement, dated in the contract count as August 23, 2023, as an acceptance of an offer to forgo litigation. It alleges that counsel memorialized the agreement in writing on August 24, 2023, as an agreement to make the filings with the Texas Secretary of State needed for an immediate legal change of name. It alleges that the defendant instead filed only an assumed-name certificate for CKP, LLC, kept C & K Plumbing and Subcontracting, LLC as its legal name, and later said that adoption of CKP, LLC was "not a legal name change" and that licensing and permitting continued under the registered name.

The complaint alleges that in September 2023 the defendant said it did business only in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and that it has since taken work in Central Texas, including Leander and Cedar Park. It alleges actual confusion: use of the plaintiff's account at a plumbing supply house; misdirected service and warranty calls; a December 11, 2025 DocuSign final-payment release for the defendant's project; a 2026 permit in the City of Leander's records for a project the plaintiff says it did not perform; an August 18, 2026 call about a broken water line at a Cedar Park project the defendant performed; and an unemployment claim by a former employee of the defendant against the plaintiff's account with the Texas Workforce Commission. It alleges that on August 13, 2026, the defendant said "mistakes get made" and that it would make every effort to avoid or correct any confusion between the names. It alleges that the same day the plaintiff demanded that the defendant abandon the legal name and re-register with the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners as CKP, LLC; that on August 26, 2026, the defendant, through counsel, refused to "dissolve, rename, or abandon the legal entity"; and that on August 28, 2026, the plaintiff rejected a proposal to use CKP LLC and CKP Plumbing publicly while keeping the legal name.

The complaint quotes Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 5.001(a) for the point that filing a certificate of formation or registering a name does not authorize use of a name in Texas in violation of a right of another under the Lanham Act, chapter 16 or 71 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code, or common law. It alleges that the defendant has known of the plaintiff's objections since at least July 2023. On the Lanham Act count, it alleges, on information and belief, that the defendant's business uses instrumentalities of interstate commerce and that the conduct has a substantial effect on interstate commerce.

The claims and the relief requested

Each count is brought by C&K Plumbing, LLC against C & K Plumbing and Subcontracting, LLC d/b/a CKP, LLC. Count I alleges unfair competition and false designation of origin under section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(A), and alleges a likelihood of confusion and actual confusion. It seeks injunctive relief under 15 U.S.C. § 1116(a), profits, damages, and costs under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), enhanced damages not exceeding three times actual damages, and attorney's fees on the allegation that the case is exceptional. Count II alleges Texas common-law trade name infringement, including use of C&K Plumbing and Subcontracting, LLC and of CKP Plumbing. Count III alleges Texas common-law unfair competition. Count IV alleges breach of a 2023 agreement to change the legal name, and, in the alternative, promissory estoppel. It seeks specific performance, actual damages, and attorney's fees under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 38.001(b)(8). The complaint alleges that conditions precedent have been performed, have occurred, or have been excused, and it demands a jury under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 38.

The prayer asks for (a) a preliminary and permanent injunction requiring the defendant, within a reasonable transition period set by the court, to amend its Texas Secretary of State filings to remove C&K Plumbing from its legal entity name and to conform its registrations with the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners and other agencies to the new name; (b) a preliminary and permanent injunction against using C&K Plumbing, C&K Plumbing and Subcontracting, CKP Plumbing, or any confusingly similar designation, including on contracts, bids, invoices, permits, certificates of insurance, contractor registrations, supplier and vendor accounts, project-management platforms, online listings, and other business documents; (c) an order to notify general contractors, suppliers, vendors, insurers, and agencies of the new legal name, to request correction of records, and to file a sworn compliance report within thirty days, as permitted by 15 U.S.C. § 1116(a); (d) the defendant's profits and the plaintiff's actual damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a); (e) enhanced damages not exceeding three times actual damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a); (f) actual damages on the Texas-law claims; (g) specific performance of the agreement to change the legal name; (h) an exceptional-case finding and attorney's fees under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a) and Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 38.001(b)(8); (i) pre- and post-judgment interest and costs; and (j) other relief at law or in equity.

Docket

The docket, through entry 3 on November 3, 2026, lists the complaint, filed October 30, 2026, a deficiency notice, and a request for issuance of summons. The same day's minute entries are labeled Jury Demand, To be Referred to AU Mag Judge, and Case Assigned/Reassigned.