NY Fire Water Mold obtains a default judgment and an injunction against NJNY Fire Water Mold

The opinion

The opinion and order is Document 28 in NY Fire Water Mold Corp. v. NJNY Fire Water Mold Corp., No. 7:26-cv-00545 (PMH) (S.D.N.Y.), dated October 15, 2026. The plaintiffs are NY Fire Water Mold Corp. and an individual who holds the registration. The defendants are NJNY Fire Water Mold Corp. and an individual. The defendants were served February 10, 2026, never appeared, and did not respond to a June 22, 2026 order to show cause; the Clerk entered default on April 7, 2026.

The mark

The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs have offered environmental remediation services for water, mold, smoke, microbial, and asbestos contamination under the NY Fire Water Mold name in southern New York and northern New Jersey since 2009, and registered nyfirewatermold.com that year. The USPTO issued Reg. No. 6,022,826 for NY FIRE WATER MOLD to the individual plaintiff on March 31, 2020, in Class 40, for a mark combining the words in red, blue, and green block letters with a house, flames, and water design. According to the complaint, NJNY Fire Water Mold was formed in New Jersey on May 14, 2024 and registered njnyfirewatermold.com the same day.

Liability

Treating the complaint's well pleaded factual allegations as admitted by the default, the court found the plaintiffs established infringement under 15 U.S.C. § 1114, false designation of origin under § 1125(a), and New York common law infringement and unfair competition. On the Polaroid factors, it found actual confusion shown by an insurance company's email sending a payment meant for the defendants to the plaintiffs and by a consumer review meant for the defendants, and found all factors neutral or favoring the plaintiffs.

Damages and fees

The plaintiffs sought $125,000 in statutory damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(c). The court held the defendants' mark, while quite similar, is not substantially indistinguishable from the registered mark, so it is not a counterfeit mark and statutory damages are unavailable. It awarded $1,115.04 under § 1117(a), the amount of the misdirected insurance payment, treating it as the defendants' profits. It found the case exceptional, citing the similarity of the marks, willfulness, continued use after suit, and the default, and awarded $12,080 in attorneys' fees (60.4 hours at $200), $637.10 in costs, and post-judgment interest.

Injunction

Under 15 U.S.C. § 1116, the court permanently enjoined the defendants from using the NY FIRE WATER MOLD mark or colorable imitations, from false designations of origin, and from related conduct, and directed them to deliver up for destruction materials bearing the NJNY Fire Water Mold name, including the njnyfirewatermold.com domain name. It noted the defendants' website was still active and the company still registered in New Jersey.