Bogus bongs or bogus lawsuits? Pipe maker sues over fakes
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In the rarefied world of high-end bong makers, Roor glass water pipes have long been smoked to impress. The status symbols are so sought after that some models command prices of $1,000. There’s even a diamond-studded, gold-gilded Roor that goes for nearly $4,000.
Both marijuana and the tools used to smoke it remain illegal under federal law, but that hasn’t stopped Roor and its American licensee from using the federal courts to protect the brand and its sales.
In Florida, California and New York, lawyers are accusing smoke shops and mom-and-pop convenience stores of selling counterfeit Roor bongs in violation of U.S. Trademark No. 3675839, protecting “SMOKER’S ARTICLES, NAMELY, GLASS PIPES, BONGS, WATER PIPES, (and) WATER PIPES OF GLASS” sold under the Roor mark, which has “a stylized font with the last “R” facing backwards.”
Almost 200 such lawsuits have been filed since 2013, most of them in the last year.