Midnight Express Power Boats v. Gabco Holdings cybersquatting complaint (S.D. Fla. 1:26-cv-26409)

Midnight Express Power Boats, Inc., a maker of high-performance boats, filed a complaint with sixteen counts on September 16, 2026, in the Southern District of Florida, No. 1:26-cv-26409, against Gabco Holdings, LLC, Gregory Kiley, and Michael Newcomer. It alleges, on information and belief, that the defendants registered midnightexpressboat.com in late August 2026 and used it for a website that the complaint calls defamatory and disparaging, and it pleads cybersquatting under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d), infringement of its registered MIDNIGHT EXPRESS mark under 15 U.S.C. § 1114, false designation under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a), and Florida claims against each defendant.

What was filed

The complaint is Document 1 in Midnight Express Power Boats, Inc. v. Gabco Holdings, LLC, Gregory Kiley, and Michael Newcomer, No. 1:26-cv-26409 (S.D. Fla.), entered on the docket September 16, 2026. It runs 45 pages and includes a jury demand. The clerk's notice assigns the case to Judge Darrin P. Gayles. Midnight Express is described as a Delaware corporation.

The mark

The complaint relies on its common law rights in MIDNIGHT EXPRESS and on Reg. No. 3,614,454 for MIDNIGHT EXPRESS in special form, which it says has become incontestable. USPTO TSDR lists the registration, issued May 5, 2009 for boats in Class 12, as renewed and owned by Midnight Express Power Boats, Inc.

What the complaint alleges

The complaint alleges that in late August or on September 1, 2026, the defendants published a website at midnightexpressboat.com that displays the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS mark in its masthead, and that a social media account promoted the site. On information and belief, it alleges that Gabco, acting through Kiley and Newcomer, bought and registered the domain and controls the site, and in the alternative that Kiley or Newcomer did. It alleges the domain adds only the generic term boat to the mark and that Midnight Express never authorized the use.

Claims and relief

Against each of Gabco, Kiley, and Newcomer separately, the complaint pleads cybersquatting under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d), infringement under 15 U.S.C. § 1114, unfair competition under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a), and Florida common law trademark infringement and unfair competition. It also pleads a Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act claim against all defendants. It asks for preliminary and permanent injunctions against using or keeping the domain or any confusingly similar domain.

On the docket

The docket shows returns of service filed October 1, 2026; a scheduling order with referrals to a magistrate judge and to mediation entered October 20, 2026; expedited motions filed October 21 and October 27, 2026; and an order on an expedited motion and an order setting a hearing entered October 27, 2026.

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