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Utah Company Goes After Counterfeit ?Male Chastity? Belts

By Ryan Gile

You learn something new every day.

On January 21, 2009, A.L. Enterprises, Inc. (?ALE?), a Nevada corporation doing business in Price, Utah, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah against Latitudes International (?Latitudes?), a company based in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, and Latitudes? manager, Gordon Douglas. See A.L. Enterprises v. Latitudes International et al, Case No. 09-cv-00050 (D. Utah Jan. 21, 2009). A copy of the complaint can be downloaded here.

ALE is the manufacturer of a line of ?male chastity belts? which it sells through its website http://www.cb-2000.com/. Among its products are the CB-3000, CB-6000, and The Curve (pictured above, which ALE promotes as ?Designed for the longer male.?). ALE has even received federal trademark registrations for CB-3000 (for "Devices conducive to male chastity, namely, chastity belts for men") and CB-6000 (for the same descriptions of goods as the CB-3000, but also for ?Adult sexual aids conducive to male chastity, namely, chastity restraints for men? which is treated as a different classification of goods at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office). For those of you interested in seeing some pictures of the ?belts? at issue, click here and here (Warning: mature audience only).

According to the complaint, Latitudes is selling counterfeit versions of ALE?s products at two websites, http://www.chastitydeviceformen.com/ and http://www.latitudes-international.com/. Indeed, the website does appear to be offering the same three types of ?devices? that ALE sells and using the same trademarks to identify its goods (The Curve, the CB-3000, and the CB-6000).

ALE's CB-3000

Latitudes? CB-3000

In order to establish a basis for jurisdiction over the Canadian company, ALE hired a Utah investigator to purchase two of Latitudes? products from its website and have them shipped to Utah. According to ALE, the products are counterfeits and not either grey market goods or product overruns.

ALE?s causes of action are for trademark infringement, counterfeiting, federal and state unfair competition, and intentional interference with economic relations.

For those of you interested in a little something different (assuming this kind of thing isn't different enough for you), check out ALE?s Wood Grain Design for the CB-6000 ? it?s simulated wood design gives it a ?warm, earthy feel.?