‘RHOC’ Star Noella Bergener’s Lawyer Ex-husband Sues Rival Firm Over His Famed ‘Sweet James’ Name
Aug. 8 2023, Published 12:00 p.m. ET
Former Real Housewives of Orange County star Noella Bergener’s lawyer ex-husband James has filed a lawsuit against another lawyer ripping off his catchy trademark, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Sweet James, the law firm founded by James, filed suit against another firm named Sweet Justice and its director Rafael Contreras Sweet.
James’ firm accused Sweet Justice and Rafael of copyright infringement.
James’ firm is “one of the leading personal injury law firms in Southern California.” The firm branded and promoted itself with the “Sweet James” trademark since 2011.
The firm owns the trademarks Sweet James and Justice with Sweet James — among other trademarks. James said for years, he has appeared in Southern California radio stations promoting his firm and appeared on billboards in California, Nevada, and Arizona.
“Since 2012, Plaintiff has spent millions of dollars promoting its SWEET Marks,” the lawsuit read. “While other personal injury firm advertising may use aggressive messaging and trademarks, Plaintiff’s SWEET Marks are highly distinctive and stand out due to the unique, incongruous nature of the meaning of the word “SWEET” in this context.”
James said the branding and use of the trademarks brought in a substantial amount of business to the firm.
The suit accused the defendants, another personal injury firm in Southern California, of infringing on its trademarks by using the name “Sweet Justice.”
“Defendant knowingly adopted a name confusingly similar to Plaintiff’s SWEET Marks for its legal practice,” the suit claimed. “Defendant’s unauthorized use of the mark SWEET JUSTICE is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake, and/or to deceive consumers and potential consumers of the parties, at least as to some affiliation, connection, or association of Defendant with Plaintiff, or as to the approval of Defendant’s services by Plaintiff.”
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James’ firm has demanded an injunction against the rival firm from using the “Sweet Justice” name. In addition, the firm wants to recover all damages it has sustained as a result of the defendant’s activities.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, recently, James was ordered to pay his ex-Noella $25k per month in child support for their son James Jr., born in 2019.
The case was brought by the County of Orange who listed James’ monthly income as $900k per month. The department asked the court to award Noella $52k per month in support.
James objected to the request claiming the numbers Noella submitted for his income were way off. Noella trashed her ex claiming, "James goes months without seeing our son. He’s had 9 visits in the last 21 months. He has been in California often for cosmetic procedures, work, and commercial shoots without visiting our son."
In a declaration filed before the court order, Noella claimed she was “going on 11 months with zero support I have maxed out the loan from my 70-year-old mother."
She added, "I can’t afford rent and we had to move in with my boyfriend. I haven’t been able to provide anything close to the childhood our son had before his father left. All while having to watch James’ commercials claiming record rewards, and seeing thousand dollar meals charged to our country club membership in Puerto Rico. It’s embarrassing that this is what I am at.”