CHARLOTTE, NC – The law firm of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP is pleased to be named among Law360’s Top 10 Trademark Rulings of 2016.  Charlotte attorneys Thad Adams, Alex Long and Christina Trimmer represented Variety Stores Inc. in its lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina ruled in favor of Variety, ordering Wal-Mart to disgorge $32.5 million in profits earned by Wal-Mart and resulting from Wal-Mart’s willful infringement of Variety’s “Backyard” trademark rights.

W. Thad Adams, III is a Shumaker partner and co-chair of Shumaker’s Intellectual Property practice group and led the litigation team.  Partner Samuel "Alex" Long, Jr., associate Christina D. Trimmer and paralegal Cecilia M. Sidebottom ably assisted in extensive trial preparation and at trial.

As noted by Law360 in its Top-10 selection, “the ruling for Variety Stores Inc., which operates 300 discount stores, didn’t mince words, blasting Wal-Mart for making a ‘deliberate choice’ to infringe the trademark rights of a smaller company despite repeated warnings from its attorneys.”

The case is Variety Stores Inc. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., case number 5:14-cv-00217, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

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Founded in 1925, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP is a full-service law firm with more than 250 lawyers and five offices in Toledo and Columbus, Ohio; Tampa and Sarasota, Florida; and Charlotte, North Carolina. Shumaker is a premier provider of quality legal services.  Whether by its commitment to clients or its work in the community, involvement lies at the core of all of Shumaker’s initiatives.

Shumaker Listed Among Law360's Top 10 Trademark Rulings of 2016