I reported back in January that Human Touch massage chair company had won a lawsuit against King Kong Chairs and Premier Health Products for patent infringement. You can check out my blog entry, and associated information, at this link:

http://www.massage-chair-relief.com/blog/chair-models/human-touch-wins-lawsuit-against-king-kong-chairs-and-php-chairs/

Well, I just read a press release that mentions that Human Touch was just awarded  $4.55 million in a trademark infringement case. Here is a clip from the release:

“Human Touch®, the leading brand of high-performance, design-oriented massage chairs for today’s modern and traditional living spaces, announced today that a U.S. District Court jury awarded $4.55 million in damages to the company in its trademark/trade dress infringement and unfair competition action brought against American Lighting Industry, Inc for intentional infringement of Human Touch’s trademarks and trade dress as it relates to its Human Touch massage products and technology. The jury also awarded Human Touch $2.8 million against co-defendant King Kong U.S.A., Inc. and $425,000 against King Kong’s president, Bernard Koay.”

Later in the press release, it is also mentioned that in a separate ruling “another U.S. District Court jury awarded $1.7 million in damages to the company in a patent infringement action brought against WFO Imports, LLC.”

King Kong massage chairs is a subsidiary of American Lighting Industry Inc.
WFO Imports, LLC also does business as Premier Health Products.

Here is a link to the press release:

http://blog.humantouch.com/2008-09/455-million-awarded-to-human-touch%C2%AE-in-trademark-infringement/

Who knows what will happen now. I have heard rumors that American Lighting Industry Inc may sell off or shut down the King Kong massage chair division.  And can WFO sustain after being hit for $1.7 million. Don’t know, but time will tell…

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com