The complaint

Taylor's Tins, LLC v. Golfire, Inc., No. 5:26-cv-02170 (N.D.N.Y.), is a 36-page complaint filed October 20, 2026, ECF No. 1, with seven exhibits and a jury demand. Taylor's Tins is a Missouri limited liability company based in Benton, Missouri, that designs and sells custom firefighter helmet shields. The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that Golfire, Inc. is a New York corporation based in Baldwinsville, New York, and alleges that it competes in the same market. It also sues John D. Price, Jr., who it alleges, on information and belief, is Golfire's founder, owner, chief executive officer, and principal decision-maker. It pleads jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1338(a), and 1367 and 15 U.S.C. § 1121, and venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).

The marks and trade dress

The complaint relies on U.S. Registration No. 7,954,315 for TAYLOR'S TINS, common law rights in the TAYLOR'S TINS name and a design logo, federal applications it says it filed for certain of those marks (Exhibit C), and unregistered trade dress in its Classic Shield Design, which it says it has used since at least April 2017. It describes that design as a combination of elements beginning with a pentagonal shield shape with a pronounced central peak. USPTO records show Registration No. 7,954,315 as a live standard character registration for TAYLOR'S TINS (with TINS disclaimed), registered September 23, 2025, and owned by Taylor's Tins LLC. It covers, in Class 6, "Decorative metal goods consisting of aluminum, namely, license plate, identification tags of metal, non-luminous and non-mechanical metal signs for decoration, and metal medical and firefighter safety information reference cards not magnetically encoded and not to function as jewelry"; in Class 14, "Decorative metal goods consisting of aluminum, namely, keychains; Decorative non-monetary coins and bracelets"; and in Class 35, "Online retail store services featuring metal cleaning kits, decorative metal goods and stickers, fabric flags, nonmonetary coins, aluminum bracelets, and clothing; Subscription-based retail store service featuring helmet shields."

What the complaint alleges

According to the complaint, Taylor's Tins objected in 2022 after Golfire began selling shields using the Classic Shield Design, and Golfire agreed in writing to stop producing them and destroy infringing materials, so Taylor's Tins did not sue. It alleges that Golfire later resumed making those shields, including through a third-party retailer, began using TIN and TINS and the #taylorstins hashtag in marketing, and adopted a logo the complaint calls a colorable imitation of the Taylor's Tins logo. A May 4, 2026 cease-and-desist letter drew a reply that Golfire would remove its current design, which the complaint says did not address the rest of the demands.

The complaint also alleges that after that letter Golfire launched a "Competitor Special" that sends prospective customers to the Taylor's Tins online Shield Builder to design a shield and then asks them to submit the design to Golfire to make at a competing price. It further alleges that Golfire produced shields matching custom mockups Taylor's Tins had prepared for a prospective customer who did not buy from it.

Claims and relief

  • Count I: trademark infringement, 15 U.S.C. § 1114.
  • Count II: false designation of origin and unfair competition, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(A).
  • Count III: trade dress infringement and unfair competition, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(A).
  • Count IV: trademark infringement under New York common law.
  • Count V: unfair competition under New York common law.

The prayer seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions, including against directing customers to the Shield Builder or using designs generated through it, removal of infringing content, destruction under 15 U.S.C. § 1118, an accounting, profits and damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a) with any increase the court finds appropriate, attorneys' fees as an exceptional case, interest, and costs.

On the docket

The case is assigned to Judge Glenn T. Suddaby.