What was filed
The complaint is Document 1 in No. 1:26-cv-09037, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, filed October 14, 2026. It runs 17 pages. Exhibit A is said to contain the trademark registration certificates and Exhibit B the copyright registration certificates. The plaintiff, What Do You Meme, LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company located in New York, New York. The defendant, IdeaStage Promotions LLC, is described as an Arizona limited liability company with its principal place of business in Phoenix, Arizona, that provides promotional products. Counsel is Practus, LLP. Jurisdiction is pleaded under 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 1338 and 15 U.S.C. 1121(a), supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1367(a), and venue under 28 U.S.C. 1391(b). The plaintiff demands a jury trial. (Compl. paras. 2 to 6, 15, 19; p. 14.)
What the complaint alleges
It alleges the plaintiff, founded in New York City in 2016, has more than 400 products, that its EMOTIONAL SUPPORT and EMOTIONAL SUPPORT PALS plush line is one of its most successful, and that its EMOTIONAL SUPPORT products quickly reached millions of dollars in sales. It alleges ownership of U.S. trademark Registration Nos. 7,497,419 (EMOTIONAL SUPPORT), 7,566,639 (EMOTIONAL SUPPORT PALS), and 6,902,855 (EMOTIONAL SUPPORT FRIES) for stuffed and plush toys in Class 28, and of more than 25 copyright registrations for its Emotional Support products and images, including the six registrations in suit. (Compl. paras. 7 to 19.)
It alleges IdeaStage sells a variety of Emotional Support plush toy sets in bulk on ideastage.com under the EMOTIONAL SUPPORT mark, without authorization or a license. The complaint sets the plaintiff's registered images beside images of IdeaStage's products for Registration Nos. VA 2-382-936 and VA 2-470-469. It alleges, on information and belief, that IdeaStage obtained or viewed the plaintiff's goods and images before creating its products. It also alleges that the similarities cannot be explained other than by copying and that the infringement is willful. (Compl. paras. 20 to 37.)
Counts and relief
The five counts are copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501, trademark infringement under 15 U.S.C. 1114(1)(a), New York common law trademark infringement, false designation of origin under 15 U.S.C. 1125(a), and unfair competition under 15 U.S.C. 1125(a). On the copyright count it seeks damages and profits under 17 U.S.C. 504(b) or, alternatively, statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 504(c) of $150,000 for each of no less than six works, plus fees and costs under 17 U.S.C. 505. The prayer also seeks a permanent injunction under 15 U.S.C. 1116, profits and damages under 15 U.S.C. 1117 with trebling for willfulness, delivery up for destruction under 15 U.S.C. 1118, a recall, an accounting, and interest. (Compl. paras. 39 to 89; pp. 15 to 17.)
The complaint lists the six registrations as VA 2-382-936, VA 2-420-342, VA 2-446-456, VAu 1-554-750, VA 2-470-469, and VA 2-488-874, with effective dates of January 3, 2024, August 30, 2024, January 9, 2025, February 12, 2025, October 24, 2025, and December 11, 2025 (Compl. para. 19). The U.S. Copyright Office public catalog lists each number with those dates and What Do You Meme, LLC as author and claimant. VA 2-382-936 is a group registration of 57 published photographs titled "Menstruation Crustacean and Emotional Support," and VA 2-470-469 is a group registration of 105 published photographs of Emotional Support products from 2025. VA 2-420-342 (Emotional Support Chickies), VA 2-446-456 (Emotional Support Bunnies), and VA 2-488-874 (Emotional Support School Supplies) are listed as sculpture, and VAu 1-554-750 covers five unpublished sculptural works, including Emotional Support Capybaras.