Solberg sues Industrial Compressor Supplies over "Replacement Solberg Filter" listings

What was filed

The complaint is Document 1, filed October 22, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. The case is Solberg Mfg. Inc. v. Industrial Compressor Supplies, No. 1:26-cv-12996, assigned to Judge John Robert Blakey. It runs 37 pages and demands a jury trial. It is signed by James B. Conte of White and Steele, P.C. in Denver, Colorado.

The marks

Solberg, an Illinois corporation based in Itasca, Illinois, that also uses the name Solberg Manufacturing, Inc., says it owns Registration No. 2,334,405 for SOLBERG for filters for air compressors, vacuum pumps, and industrial positive displacement blowers, with first use at least as early as 1986, and Registration No. 2,225,535 for the number 19 for air filter elements that are parts of air compressors, with first use at least as early as 1978. It says both registrations are incontestable. USPTO TSDR shows both registrations as renewed, with SOLBERG MFG., INC. as owner of the SOLBERG registration and SOLBERG MANUFACTURING, INC. as owner of the 19 registration.

What the complaint alleges

The complaint describes the defendant as a Missouri limited liability company based in Florissant, Missouri. It alleges that the defendant's website, eaircompressorparts.com, has a "Solberg Filters" link leading to listings such as "ICS-18P Replacement Solberg Filter" at $12.34 and "ICS-19P Replacement Solberg Air Filter" at $13.78, and that many of the part numbers reflect terms associated with Solberg. It alleges, on information and belief, that the defendant copied the SOLBERG mark, that actual confusion has occurred, and that the infringement is willful. In the false advertising count, Solberg pleads in the alternative that if "Replacement" means a filter of the same quality as a genuine SOLBERG filter, the statement is literally false because, on information and belief, the defendant's filters lack performance specifications or documentation, and because the Solberg element uses a tighter expanded metal that it says affects collapse pressure.

Claims and relief requested

Solberg brings all six causes of action against Industrial Compressor Supplies: infringement of the SOLBERG registration under 15 U.S.C. § 1114 (First); false designation of origin under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(A) as to SOLBERG (Second); false advertising under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(B) (Third); infringement of the 19 registration under § 1114 (Fourth); false designation of origin under § 1125(a)(1)(A) as to 19 (Fifth); and a claim under the Illinois statute cited as 815 ILCS 510/1 et seq. (Sixth). The prayer asks the court to enjoin the defendant from using SOLBERG or 19, or any colorable imitation, with the same or similar goods, and to award Solberg its lost profits, an accounting and the defendant's profits, treble damages, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.