Contract analysis

1. Purpose of This Letter I am writing to report on the response that we have received from Brindoval Home Goods Inc. ("Brindoval") to our cease-and-desist letter dated September 26, 2022. As you will recall, that letter demanded that Brindoval immediately cease all use of the mark "MERIDIAN FRESH" in connection with its private-label household cleaning products and voluntarily withdraw its pending federal trademark

2. Summary of Brindoval's Response Brindoval's response, authored by Mr. Halverson, runs nine pages and addresses several of the substantive points raised in our cease-and-desist letter. We summarize the principal elements of the response below. 2.1 Denial of Infringement Halverson McKay & Pruitt denies, on behalf of Brindoval, that the use of the mark "MERIDIAN FRESH" in connection with Brindoval's private-label hou

3. Assessment of Brindoval's Position Having carefully reviewed the substance of Brindoval's response, we offer the following assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Brindoval's arguments as they bear on MCB's enforcement strategy. 3.1 Weaknesses in Brindoval's Arguments We believe that Brindoval's defenses are vulnerable on several fronts, and that MCB's claims are strong. Independent Adoption. Brindoval's ass

4. Recommended Next Steps Based on the foregoing assessment, and consistent with the strategy outlined in our October 7, 2022 memorandum, we recommend the following course of action. 4.1 Notice of Opposition at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Consistent with our prior recommendation, and with the authorization you provided during our October 7 call, we have already prepared and filed a Notice of Opposition befor

5. Requested Client Action In light of the foregoing, we respectfully request the following from MCB:

1. Authorization to File. Please confirm MCB's authorization to proceed with the filing of the federal complaint in the Southern District of New York and the accompanying motion for preliminary injunction, as outlined in Sections 4.2 and 4.3 above. While we have already filed the TTAB Notice of Opposition with the authorization provided during our October 7 call, we wish to obtain express confirmation before initiati

2. Internal Briefing. Please advise whether Sandra Kwan (Chief Executive Officer) or James Alderton of Waypoint Capital Partners LLC should be briefed on the escalation of this matter before the federal complaint is filed. We understand that Waypoint is MCB's majority equity holder and may have governance or approval requirements relating to litigation expenditures in this range. If so, we are happy to prepare a brie

3. Coordination with Rachel Dominguez. We will coordinate directly with Rachel Dominguez, Vice President of Brand Management, to prepare her supporting declaration for the preliminary injunction motion. We ask that you facilitate an introduction or, if preferred, arrange for Ms. Dominguez to contact Christy Bauer on our team to schedule an initial interview. Closing We appreciate your confidence in Calderwood & Harkn