Salt Creek Advisory seeks a declaratory judgment against Salt Creek Partners over M&A branding

What was filed

The complaint is Document 1, filed October 27, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. The case is Salt Creek Advisory LLC v. Salt Creek Partners LLC, No. 1:26-cv-13259, assigned to Judge Jeremy C. Daniel, with Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes. The filing is a complaint for declaratory judgment with a jury demand and attaches the demand letter as Exhibit A.

What the complaint alleges

The complaint describes Salt Creek Advisory as a Chicago-area M&A advisory firm organized under Illinois law on October 14, 2025, with its principal place of business in La Grange Park, Illinois, and says the name comes from Salt Creek, a local waterway. It alleges, on information and belief, that Salt Creek Partners is a California limited liability company headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California. It alleges Salt Creek Partners does not own a federal trademark registration for SALT CREEK PARTNERS or any other SALT CREEK-formative mark. It alleges that by letter dated October 2, 2026, Salt Creek Partners, through counsel, alleged that Salt Creek Advisory's use of "Salt Creek Advisory" and related "Salt Creek" designations infringes proprietary intellectual property rights, demanded that Salt Creek Advisory cease and desist from those uses, and stated that Salt Creek Partners was prepared to enforce trademark rights in federal court. The complaint contends that SALT CREEK is a geographic term entitled to narrow protection, that the claimed SALT CREEK PARTNERS mark is unregistered and at most geographically descriptive, and that the parties' names differ and reach different clients through different marketing channels.

Claims and relief requested

Count I seeks a declaratory judgment of no trademark infringement, unfair competition, or false designation of origin under 15 U.S.C. 1125(a). Count II seeks a declaratory judgment of no violation of the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, 815 ILCS 510/1 et seq., or Illinois common law. The prayer asks for declarations that Salt Creek Advisory's use of its name and mark does not infringe Salt Creek Partners' rights and is not unfair competition or false designation of origin under the Lanham Act, the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, or the common law of any state, and that it may keep using the name free from interference by Salt Creek Partners, plus attorneys' fees and costs under 15 U.S.C. 1117(a).