West Coast Sourdough franchisor sues its co-founder to cancel WEST COAST SOURDOUGH and WEST COAST SOURDOUGH DELI registrations

The parties and the marks

The case is WCSD, Inc. v. Uppal, No. 2:26-cv-03703 (E.D. Cal.), filed October 30, 2026, ECF No. 1 (26 pages), with a jury demand. The plaintiffs are WCSD, Inc., which the complaint says is the franchisor of the West Coast Sourdough chain of deli-style restaurants, and SFB Holdings Inc., which it says WCSD formed in April 2023 to hold its trademarks; both are California corporations based in Sacramento County. The defendant is Karndeep Uppal, sued individually and as trustee of the SFB Intellectual Property Custodial Trust, which the complaint alleges, on information and belief, is the same trust named as the SFB Holdings Intellectual Property Custodial Trust in a February 2026 assignment. The complaint calls it the Purported Trust and does not concede that it was validly created. It says Uppal co-founded WCSD, served as its chief executive officer from March 2020 until the board removed him in April 2024, remained a WCSD director until February 2026, and was one of SFB Holdings' three directors when he signed the assignment, and it alleges, on information and belief, that he lives in Sacramento County.

The complaint says WCSD has used WEST COAST SOURDOUGH for restaurant services since at least February 2020 and WEST COAST SOURDOUGH DELI since at least January 18, 2021, and that as of early 2026 it had franchised about 70 West Coast Sourdough restaurants in California and other states under franchise agreements that license the marks. It relies on three registrations that it says WCSD assigned to SFB Holdings on April 17, 2023: WEST COAST SOURDOUGH, U.S. Reg. No. 6,132,333, and WEST COAST SOURDOUGH DELI, U.S. Reg. No. 6,324,643, both on the Supplemental Register, and a West Coast Sourdough logo with a stylized Golden Gate Bridge, U.S. Reg. No. 6,349,858, on the Principal Register with WEST COAST SOURDOUGH disclaimed. United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) records show all three as registered for restaurant services in Class 43, list WCSD, Inc. as the registrant, and list the SFB Intellectual Property Custodial Trust as the current owner.

The assignment and the new registrations

According to the complaint, on February 6, 2026 Uppal recorded with the USPTO a Trademark Assignment dated February 3, 2026 that purported to transfer the three registrations from SFB Holdings to the trust, and he signed it twice, once for SFB Holdings, purporting to act as its chief executive officer, and once as trustee. The complaint alleges that SFB Holdings' board never authorized, approved, or ratified the assignment, that Uppal did not disclose it to the other two directors, that SFB Holdings received no consideration, and that on May 15, 2026 the board resolved that the assignment was unauthorized and void. It also says that on February 12, 2026 filings made on Uppal's behalf redirected USPTO correspondence for the three registrations away from SFB Holdings.

The complaint says that on April 30, 2026 Uppal caused two applications to be filed in the trust's name, Serial No. 99/797,745 for WEST COAST SOURDOUGH and Serial No. 99/797,831 for WEST COAST SOURDOUGH DELI, both for restaurant services in Class 43, and it alleges, on information and belief, that he directed the filings and supplied the information behind their factual statements. It alleges that the applications falsely claimed that the trust owned the marks and the three earlier registrations, claimed acquired distinctiveness under Section 2(f) through five years of the applicant's substantially exclusive and continuous use, claimed first use dates in 2020, submitted screenshots of WCSD's own website as specimens, and declared that no one else had the right to use the marks. USPTO records show both applications published for opposition on August 18, 2026 and registered on the Principal Register on October 6, 2026 as U.S. Reg. Nos. 8,486,459 and 8,486,460, each with an acquired distinctiveness claim in whole, claimed ownership of Reg. Nos. 6,132,333, 6,349,858, and 6,324,643, and the Trustees of the SFB Intellectual Property Custodial Trust as owner.

The franchise dispute

The complaint says Uppal has filed two suits in Sacramento County Superior Court: No. 26CV004080, filed February 20, 2026, and No. 26CV015565, filed June 30, 2026 against WCSD in his claimed capacity as trustee. It says the second suit alleges that the trust owns the registrations and seeks to stop WCSD and its franchisees from using, licensing, or franchising the marks unless WCSD takes a license from the trust. It alleges that Uppal took part in developing and operating a competing restaurant chain and in soliciting WCSD franchisees to leave its system, and it alleges, on information and belief, that he holds an ownership or equivalent economic interest in that business. The complaint says WCSD and SFB Holdings have sued over the franchise departures in a separate Sacramento County Superior Court case, No. 26CV023767, filed October 6, 2026, which it says, as amended, does not seek a ruling on title to the marks, cancellation or correction of any registration, or relief under the Lanham Act, and that this suit seeks only damages caused by the procurement of the two new registrations.

The claims and relief requested

The complaint pleads six claims, the first five by both plaintiffs and the sixth by SFB Holdings alone: cancellation of Reg. Nos. 8,486,459 and 8,486,460 because the applicant did not own the marks (15 U.S.C. §§ 1051(a), 1064, 1119); cancellation for fraud on the USPTO (15 U.S.C. §§ 1064(3), 1119); cancellation for priority and likelihood of confusion (15 U.S.C. §§ 1052(d), 1064, 1119); false or fraudulent registration under 15 U.S.C. § 1120; a declaratory judgment and rectification of the register (28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202 and 15 U.S.C. § 1119); and declaratory relief that the assignment was an unauthorized and voidable interested-director transaction under California Corporations Code §§ 300, 310, and 1001. It asks the court to cancel the two registrations; declare that SFB Holdings owns the marks and the three earlier registrations and that WCSD's and its franchisees' use does not infringe the challenged registrations; rectify the register to show SFB Holdings as owner; order Uppal to reconvey any claimed interest and record corrective documents; enjoin him from asserting ownership based on the assignment or the new registrations and from filing further conveyances with the USPTO; and award damages under § 1120, attorney's fees, interest, and costs.

Docket

The docket lists the case as assigned to Judge Troy L. Nunley and referred to Magistrate Judge Allison Claire. On October 30, 2026, the plaintiffs filed their exhibits (ECF No. 2), the court issued an initial pretrial scheduling order (ECF No. 3), and a summons issued for Uppal (ECF No. 4).