On August 23, 2012, Mohawk Carpet Distribution, Inc. (“Mohawk”) filed a complaint against Horizon Home Imports, Inc. (“HHI”) for infringement of the registered trademark Horizon^®, as used in connection with floor coverings.

USPTO records name Mohawk as the current owner of U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,422,031, for the mark HORIZON^®, for “tufted textile carpets having a soft fiber pile surface.”  That registration, which issued in 1986, recites a first use date of January 5, 1972.  Mohawk alleges that it made “continuous and extensive” use of the HORIZON^® mark over the past 40 years, endowing Mohawk with common law trademark rights as well as rights attendant to its federal registration.

Mohawk describes HHI, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, as “a factory direct importer and supplier of floor coverings and carpets that [HHI] offers, sells and markets to retailers for sale to consumers . . . .”  Mohawk alleges that HHI has sold goods under the mark HORIZON, and attached three exhibits to its complaint that purportedly show HHI’s use of the HORIZON mark in sales and promotion of rugs.  Mohawk claims that prior to filing suit, it notified HHI of Mohawk’s trademark rights, but that HHI refused to cease use of the HORIZON mark.

In addition to reciting causes of action for infringement of a federally-registered mark and for federal unfair competition under the Lanham Act, Mohawk’s complaint recites related counts under Georgia law.

The case is Mohawk Carpet Distribution, Inc. v. Horizon Home Imports, Inc., No. 1:12-cv-2919-TWT, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, assigned to U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr.