Sonoma County wine cellar cooling system maker sues Georgia installer over trademark
A Petaluma-based maker of specialized air-conditioning units for wine collections has sued a Georgia designer and builder of custom wine cellars, claiming trademark and other issues.
Planet One Products Inc. filed a federal court complaint against Wine Cellar Pro LLC and owner Erik Kuehne. It alleges Wine Cellar Pro infringed the “CellarPro” trademark, misled customers by using it in the business name and website address (winecellarprollc.com), and created market confusion.
“Despite Planet One's demands, Defendants have refused to discontinue use of the WINE CELLAR PRO trademark,” wrote Tiburon-based attorney Thomas Freiburger in the Dec. 9, 2022, filing.
Planet One registered the CellarPro mark in 2008. CellarPro Cooling Systems was an outgrowth of the Le Cache Wine Cabinets, started in 1989 to produce enclosures with the right humidity and temperature controls for collectors of fine wine. CellarPro started to produce cabinet chilling units at the Petaluma plant then developed into its own venture, selling the devices to installers of custom cellars. And another Planet One business is designs and installs custom cellars.
The lawsuit claims that Wine Cellar Pro sought to buy CellarPro refrigeration units “for their own resale” and that the company operates in states where Planet One also operates.
“The overlap in customers and the confusingly similar names and marks is strongly likely to cause confusion,” Freiburger wrote in the court document.
On its website, Wine Cellar Pro said it has been designing custom cellars and managing projects in the Southeast for over two decades and also specializes in wine cellar refrigeration. The Chamblee, Georgia-based company said it has completed custom wine cellars in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
The Business Journal contacted Kuehne for comment.
Planet One is seeking a cease-and-desist order and unspecified damages. A case management date is set for March 10 in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
Jeff Quackenbush covers wine, construction and real estate. Before coming to the Business Journal in 1999, he wrote for Bay City News Service in San Francisco. Reach him at jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4256.
