Sued by a Silestone distributor/ fab shop called Stoneworx

[Ken Lauzon]

I am writing here because I am in a difficult situation that I can't seem to find an answer for. I am being sued by a large corporation called Maple Terrazzo Marble & Tile also known as International Logistics and Distribution (Silestone) and also known as Stoneworx for trademark infringement. I attached a copy of the documents from the lawyers so that you can understand how ridiculous this is. The company suing me is called 'Stoneworx' my company is called 'Lauzon Stoneworks'. There is no similarity between the two logos. As you will see in the attached documents I spell Stoneworks as the Webster's dictionary does while they spell it with an 'X' at the end. I am a small shop with 6 great employees, my wife is the sales/ receptionist and I am the.. well that depends on the time of day as I do everything from programing to janitorial services. We are located in north-eastern Ontario 6 hours away from their shop near Toronto. They are a massive company with a 20,000 sqft shop servicing all the big box stores and plenty more.
I have contacted 4 other companies so far in Ontario that have been sued by this company and they all gave up. One company spent over $30 000 and didn't even see a court room. One of the main reasons we chose the word stoneworks is because it encompasses all that we do. From counter tops to monuments, signage and a little bit of masonry. The thought of someone attempting to own the name of a trade is hard to wrap my head around.
My lawyer tells me that I can be looking to spend in the ball park of $100,000 to take this to court and that if I win, which the likely hood is pretty good that I may be able to get back 1/3 to 50% of my costs. Therefore I would have to put out of my pocket a solid $50,000 which for any small company is a lot of money. Remember this is the Canadian court system.
I have 8 billboards on the highway which cost me $3000 ea. Full vehicle wraps. Signage and advertising like mad... stationary, BRANDING all of which add to huge amounts of money that I have put out through my blood and sweat over the years.
So thus far my options are become Lauzon Stonedesign (example)... change all the bill boards ect.. $$$$$$$$
or go to court and spend countless hours away from my shop (which never works out well for me) and still spend money that nobody could afford to.
So what would YOU do?????????

Ken Lauzon

BTW....if you check out the attachments start with the one named "abscan" first, as it is the initial letter I received from their lawyers.

Lauzon Stoneworks
283 Hawn Dr.
New Liskeard, ON
P0J 1P0
Canada

http://www.lauzonstoneworks.com

[clhilde]

On this side of the border I would tell them to blow off and fight it my self.
On that note I would have to know more about your laws to advise. Here the names would have to be identical for them to have a chance in court.

[Matt Lansing]

I don't know how your Canadian courts work but I am pretty sure that this would get thrown out of a court in the US based on the fact that the word they are suing you over is a common word.

Talk about frivolous.

That's absolutely absurd.

And they guys throwing their weight around make money being the distributor for Silestone? Interesting.

How about a bunch of you guys all with the same Stoneworks name band together?

[carvednstone]

Heck you have 24,000 just stuck in billboards not including all other advertising I would say fight for your name you built but I'm not in your shoes.

[kevinp]

Wow! I would check into a countersuit. If you search "Stoneworks" on google there is a multitude of companies using that in their name, at least one was established in 1978.

That's BS!

[Ken Lago]

Ken, lawyers use such letters as intimidation to bully honest people like you. Remember if going to court will cost you a bunch of money it will also cost the other party a bunch and if as you say you have been told you will probably win the other party also know this. Put your poker face on and tell them to give their best shot ( have your lawyer do that of course ) They will surly back off. Make sure your lawyer send letters to both the company and their lawyer.

[Stone Dude]

tread carefully. While this sounds like a load of crap, it can still cost you in the end.

In the US, as far as I know, you cannot protect a common word, like stoneworks, or paper, or asshole. You can however, protect the manner in which is is laid out. For example: Lazon's Stonewerx, vs. Lauzon Stoneworks, someone will have to give.

This is what Apple does around the world. They sue people into bankruptcy so they can own the name and anything similar to it. It's corporate bullying at it's finest.

The simplest compromise in my mind, would be to change stoneworks to Stone Works. You can patch the billboards, patch all the wraps etc. just add a space.



How are you supposed to take someone seriously when they threaten you like this when they spell their name with an x. Stoneworx, really?

I would almost guarantee that they know they have no leg to stand one, but they drag this out to drain you financially and put you out of business. It's evil.

[Mark Lauzon]

Can you imagine if you were in Kens shoes? He just had his vans wrapped, just finished his new website, just put up his billboards and now is being sued by the Silestone Distributer (who also owns stoneworx) for that part of Canada. (assuming what he has said is true...and I tend to believe him)

He has two expensive choices...

1. Comply and lose a ton of money and time
2. Fight and lose a ton of money and time

Here is a guy...just like any of us...hard working small business owners trying to find their way in this world getting crushed by corporate BS. I pulled the logos and am posting them for you to see. This would never survive a day in a courtroom, sadly Ken will not survive the expense to get his day in court. Cameron hit it on the head....it's the same crap apple pulled suing a grocery store. Like this business is not hard enough?

Ken told me there are a bunch of other companies being sued....I would love to see the logos side-by-side...absurdity!

I want to know more about the family of companies that are part of our stone fabrication community that would stoop to these unfair practices. They have the money....they executed a strategy knowing full well that no small stone shop would have the resources to defend themselves. SHAME ON THEM! Sad days in the stone industry, sad days indeed.

PS...Can you imagine having to go buy your slabs from these guys if your customer wanted Silestone? WTF!!!

[JOHN_T]

I think you are doing the right thing by letting as many people as you can know of this company's behavior and tactics , Maybe you can shame them into going away . I would also concider getting a second opinion from another Lawyer who specialized in this type of thing usualy a consultation with lawyer is around $300 cheap considering how much is on line . Good Luck

[Mark Lauzon]

I found the website, with the building....with a SILESTONE logo on it. Weird
Corporate unfair competitive practices part two!

see for yourself: http://mapleterrazzo.com/contact (ugly ass website )

You can send messages from that contact form. They will not know who you actually are...its a contact form. Let them know what you think.

[Mark Lauzon]

I would seem that in addition to distributing silestone and suing fabshops they have an identity crisis. Maybe they want to shut down all the STONEWORKS so that once the mission is done, they can then own a powerful search term and a very very common name used in stone companies...and start marketing the name StoneWorks. (if you recall...that was the name of my old company....maybe that is part of the reason this story makes me so hot)

[Nick]

Is their any way you could represent yourself, or that you and others can share joint attorney expenses?

This is super sad and lame, I really feel for you.

[Qualey Granite]

This seems like a Maple issue, not a Silestone issue, no? Ken, is Cosentino aware that this is happening? Not saying it can't happen, but it really seems bizarre.

[Dan R.]

If it is a Maple issue and Maple is a Silestone distributor, then it may be of interest to Silestone. After all, one is frequently judged by the character of the company they keep.

[Stone Dude]

whoever is behind it needs to die in a house fire. This is about as low as you can get.

[szw21]

Is this for real - clearly the Logos are not very much like each other. It does seem like they are either after putting other local shops out of business to do away with competition and/or after exclusivity on "Stoneworks" although if the latter I cannot realistically see how they can achieve this since shops with that term in the business name exist outside Canada.

[BrentP]

Tell them to suck it. If they'd like to come to Tennessee and try that shit then we can educate them.

[Wildfan]

I would talk to a local public relations agency. Try to sell this story to the media. David vs Goliath style.

I would bet that the bad publicity(linked to cosentino) might be enough to rethink their strategy. Either way your getting press for lauzon stoneworks.

Good luck!

Jake

[phil]

Hey Guys - my stone "factory" is located in Windsor, Ontario and we used to be called Dimanti Stone Works. Initially I did not even pay attention to the letters we received regarding the use of "Stone" "Works" in our name. Just like many of you, I thought that this was so ridiculous that it could not be valid. I did not take any of this seriously until I was served papers to appear in federal court. When I brought the documents to my lawyer her initial reaction was that this was frivolous and that common words could not be trademarked and she stated that this would be an easy fight. After a couple of consultations and visits to my lawyer, it was explained to me that several other companies had already conceded to similar requests, and though no one had ever pushed the issue in court, and despite the fact that it makes sense that the use of two separate works that describe what I do be used in the business name, even when you think that you are 100% in the right, you may still be found wrong. It was decided that energies and funds would be better used for positive initiatives rather than fighting this issue. Basically we have agreed not to use Stone Works in our name and will now be know as Dimanti Stone Inc. An inconvenience yes. I have a lot of signage that will be slightly altered, but I feel that for me it was the right decision.

Good luck Ken - I hope things turn out better for you.

Phil DiMambro

[Ken Lauzon]

I am told the federal courts are not very positive towards self representation, and if this goes to court I will need to hire a trademark lawyer. Either way it's going to cost me money. The worst part of all this is the dedication of time required to fight this, which is why the others have changed their names. I finished work today at 8pm and started at 7am and I have a young family. I cater to a 3 hour radius from my shop and every day I put out product that I am proud of and service my client's needs. This takes an enormous amount of time. These people know this and have the ability to fund what it takes to bully small companies that pose a threat to them, but my shop is 6 hours away from theirs which makes it difficult to understand how we could possibly be affecting their business. Yes this will be extremely difficult for them to prove in court, however I suspect they believe this won't make it to court.
I have reason to believe that it may be difficult for the average consumer to google 'Stoneworx' and find their website as it misspelt, this was a bad decision on their part. They would find hundreds of other companies using 'Stoneworks' as it's a rather popular trade name in the masonry and granite fabrication fields.
I did not want things to come to this, I am a good customer of theirs. I buy plenty of Silestone and granite slabs from them and pay my bills within 30 days.
Please tell as many people as you can so I can end this as quickly as possible.
The stress is wild.
Thank you,
Ken Lauzon
Lauzon Stoneworks

[Dan R.]

Just curious, who told you that the courts frown upon no lawyer? A lawyer, is my bet.


Is there a good lawyer that you could get? This is about your future, not just your name, IMO. It will cost you $30k to change your name. At some point it has to worth fighting, especially if there is away that you could punish them, American style, with damages, costs, etc. Not sure how the great white north courts work.

[CustomMarbleGraniteToo]

I am sorry this happening and I can hardly imagine the tax this is putting on your life.

Is is possible to obtain a list of the other businesses being targeted by this bully company, MAPLE.?

I think my first step would be to have my attorney create a couple of stall tactics, see about obtaining a list of others being targeted and see about creating a class action.

There maybe lawyer specializing in class action and I think lawyers in class action suits get paid on the back end from awards.

Have you contacted Silestone with regard to their affiliation with this company?

In the mean time I would file some damages and consequence claims.

Use the internet, social media and local news channels to make some noise, always be accurate in the words you choose.

Let me how I can help.

[Beau]

Sad, sad, I have no good advice, all I can say, I'm sure any fabricator reading these posts will know where not to buy granite or quartz. Support a business who is not out to bully its customers.....

[signaturecountertops]

This is amazing to me. I would do a cost analysis on what it will take to re do all your signage and legal costs of changing your name to comply; I would then do a cost analysis on what it would take (potentially) to fight it. Let me go ahead and say that I'm wired a little different than most-If I honestly thought both would bankrupt me financially or emotionally I would fight it with every fiber in me. If you can fight it and not bankrupt your self, I would get all up in there business and they would become my new hobby.

Here's an idea :
Can't we get together as individual companies and donate to the legal fight and take a legal stand as an organization? Isn't this what the MIA did against the Kraft family and Cambria with the Radon claims? Very seldom does a unified front loose, very seldom does an individual win. Everyone who buys material from an ILSD should be talking to there contacts about this.

I also agree with Dan R about contacting Silestone. I don't have strong relationships there but if someone does that might be another avenue of approach.

Just thoughts.

[BellaTerra]

Ken, my blood is boiling over hearing what they are putting you through. I agree that you should look for other fabricators with the same fight on their hands and see if you could band together. Even just one other defendant could potentially cut your legal fees in half to fight what you have built. Lauzon Stoneworks just so everyone is aware has a very good reputation in the area. Ken has done a great job marketing and that was why I thought at first you were targeted Ken, but it sucks to know they have done this numerous times and always got their way without ever stepping foot in court.
Is there any way to put pressure on Silestone? I've decided to have the design centres, cabinet makers, builders promote other ES products. They would all understand not wanting to give business to scumbags like Maple.
Definitely write to the local papers. Get the word out there that there's a bully in the yard and people will rally around you.
Being some what local to you Ken please let me know if there is anything I can do to help, I truly mean that.

I'm often in Toronto and could bring a carton of eggs....