Sportsheets, Stockroom Battle Over ‘Under Bed’ Put To Rest

LOS ANGELES—A suit and countersuit between BDSM-related companies Sportsheets and The Stockroom over the phrase “under bed” have been dismissed.  A federal judge signed off on the dismissals last week, but no details of the settlement have been released. Sportsheets filed the initial complaint in May 2016 in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, accusing adult retailer and manufacturer Stockroom of trademark violation because it used “under bed” as a description for some of its restraint products. Sportsheets registered the phrase “Under the Bed Restraint System” in 2015. The suit claimed Stockroom sold restraint systems using the description “Bedspread Under Bed Bondage Straps” and “KinkLab Bedspread Under Bed Bondage Straps.” Stockroom filed a countersuit that August, arguing Sportsheets had initially agreed to allow Stockroom to change the product descriptions after it sold out of its current stock, but then filed the lawsuit anyway. Also in its countersuit, Stockroom asked Sportsheets’ trademark be cancelled because it is for a generic phrase. The suit and countersuit were dismissed with prejudice and with each side covering their attorneys’ fees and costs, the judge’s order said.