Rimowa is a Germany company that makes luxury travel cases. Their products have been featured in numerous movies such as Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Transformers. The company’s Topas brand attache case was also used by Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson, in the recent Avengers movie. Rimowa owns a federal trademark on the Topas. According to Rimowa, Marvel Entertainment failed to obtain a license for using the case in the film. In addition to depicting the case in The Avengers, Marvel is also planning to release a Blu-Ray box set—Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One - Avengers Assembled Box Set—that comes in a case that resembles the Topas.
Thus, on August 1, 2012, Rimowa’s lawyers filed a complaint (see the PDF below) in the United States District Court for the Central District of California that alleged: 1) federal trademark infringement; 2) federal designation of origin; 3) federal trademark dilution; 4) trademark infringement under California law; and 5) unfair competition under California law. Rimowa is seeking an injunction to stop Marvel’s use of their mark as well as damages.