The Pipe Hitters Union lawsuit was a federal trademark infringement case filed in December 2017 by Texas apparel company Pipe Hitters Union, LLC against a motorcycle club using the same name. It ended in mid-2018 with consent judgments and permanent injunctions barring the club and its members from using “Pipe Hitters Union,” “Pipe Hitters,” or “PHU” on merchandise. Follow-up enforcement motions from the company were all denied, and parallel challenges at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wrapped up in 2021 when the club abandoned its trademark applications.
Who Sued Whom
Pipe Hitters Union, LLC is a Texas apparel and retail company that sells shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, hats, and embroidered patches under a military-adjacent brand identity. It holds multiple federal trademark registrations for “Pipe Hitters Union” and “Pipehitters Union,” with the earliest registration dating to July 2007 and claimed continuous use in interstate commerce since 2006. Several of its registered marks incorporate a skull-and-crossbones design.1USPTO TTAB. Pipe Hitters Union LLC v. Pipe Hitters Union MC LLC, Opposition No. 91247277 – Notice of Opposition
On December 1, 2017, the company filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas against Pipe Hitters Union MC, a motorcycle club, along with seven individual members: Dane Hone, Stan Rau, Craig Rothermel, Brian Short, Mike Tekell, Jeffrey M. Bilansky, and Charlie Deckert. Judge Sam Sparks was assigned the case. The complaint alleged the motorcycle club’s use of the “Pipe Hitters Union” name infringed the LLC’s federally registered trademarks, and it sought damages, injunctive relief, and a jury trial.2CourtListener. Pipe Hitters Union LLC v. Pipe Hitters Union MC, Case No. 1:17-cv-01134
How the Case Was Resolved
The case never reached trial. On May 8, 2018, Judge Sparks approved consent judgments and permanent injunctions against five of the individual defendants: Tekell, Rau, Rothermel, Short, and Hone. Two weeks later, on May 22, 2018, the court entered a consent judgment and permanent injunction against the motorcycle club itself and marked the case closed.2CourtListener. Pipe Hitters Union LLC v. Pipe Hitters Union MC, Case No. 1:17-cv-01134
The injunction was broad. It barred the club and its members from using the names “Pipe Hitters Union,” “Pipe Hitters,” or “PHU,” and from using symbols similar to the LLC’s skull-and-crossbones trademark, in the promotion, marketing, or sale of products.1USPTO TTAB. Pipe Hitters Union LLC v. Pipe Hitters Union MC LLC, Opposition No. 91247277 – Notice of Opposition
Enforcement Fights After the Judgment
The consent judgment did not end the fighting. In January 2019, Pipe Hitters Union, LLC asked the court to hold the defendants in contempt, enforce the settlement agreement, impose sanctions, and award attorney fees. It filed a second motion making the same requests in June 2019. The defendants pushed back with their own motions to dismiss.2CourtListener. Pipe Hitters Union LLC v. Pipe Hitters Union MC, Case No. 1:17-cv-01134
Judge Sparks was not persuaded. On July 2, 2019, he denied the second motion to enforce the settlement, declared the original contempt motion moot, and denied a related motion to compel and a motion for sanctions. The LLC then sought reconsideration and moved for partial summary judgment. On January 23, 2020, Judge Sparks denied everything still pending: the sanctions request, the partial summary judgment motion, and the motion for reconsideration. No sanctions, contempt findings, or attorney fee awards were ever imposed, and the docket has been quiet since.2CourtListener. Pipe Hitters Union LLC v. Pipe Hitters Union MC, Case No. 1:17-cv-01134
The Parallel USPTO Fight Over “PHUMC”
While the district court was handling post-judgment motions, the trademark battle continued at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The motorcycle club, by then also operating as Rudiarius Motorcycle Club, had filed applications to register the mark “PHUMC.” Pipe Hitters Union, LLC filed two opposition proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
The first, Opposition No. 91247277, was filed on March 28, 2019, targeting Application No. 88120175. The LLC argued the mark was confusingly similar to its own registrations and that the earlier federal court judgment barred registration. It also disclosed that it had licensed the terms “Pipe Hitters Union MC” and “PHUMC” to a separate entity called True Brotherhood MC.1USPTO TTAB. Pipe Hitters Union LLC v. Pipe Hitters Union MC LLC, Opposition No. 91247277 – Notice of Opposition The second, Opposition No. 91248035, followed on April 30, 2019, and challenged a second PHUMC application (Serial No. 88228824).3USPTO TTAB. Pipe Hitters Union LLC v. Pipe Hitters Union MC LLC, Opposition No. 91248035
Both proceedings ended in the LLC’s favor. The motorcycle club withdrew its applications shortly before the Board ruled. Opposition 91247277 was terminated on May 5, 2021, sustained, with the underlying application abandoned.4USPTO TTAB. Pipe Hitters Union LLC v. Pipe Hitters Union MC LLC, Opposition No. 91247277 Opposition 91248035 was terminated on April 30, 2021, also sustained, with the second application abandoned as well.3USPTO TTAB. Pipe Hitters Union LLC v. Pipe Hitters Union MC LLC, Opposition No. 91248035
Where Things Stand
The trademark dispute between Pipe Hitters Union, LLC and Pipe Hitters Union MC is fully resolved. The district court case has been closed since 2018, with the last substantive order entered in January 2020. Both TTAB oppositions concluded in 2021 with the motorcycle club’s applications abandoned. Pipe Hitters Union, LLC retains its portfolio of federal registrations covering the “Pipe Hitters Union” name and its skull-and-crossbones design across apparel, patches, and accessories.
A Separate Incident Sometimes Confused With the Lawsuit
The “Pipe Hitters Union” name also surfaced in a 2021 federal criminal trial in Camden, New Jersey, but that matter is not part of the trademark case. During the trial of U.S. v. Kevin Ruiz-Quezada, juror Stephen Meile, a retired pipefitter, saw a photograph of a Pipe Hitters Union patch on an ICE officer’s uniform and Googled it during a recess on June 15, 2021, violating court orders against outside research. He told other jurors the patch was a “white supremacist logo,” and Judge Robert Kugler declared a mistrial.5Reuters. Juror Googled ICE Officers Mysterious Uniform Patch On June 29, 2021, Meile was held in criminal contempt and fined $11,227.29, the cost of empaneling the jury, plus a $25 special assessment.6CourtListener. Meile, Case No. 1:21-mc-00007 The incident involved the same name but no party to the trademark lawsuit.