Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-3_08-cv-08069/USCOURTS-azd-3_08-cv-08069-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 840
Nature of Suit: Trademark
Cause of Action: 15:1114 Trademark Infringement

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WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

The Wine Group LLC, 

Plaintiff,

vs.

Oak Creek Vineyards & Winery Inc.,

Defendant.

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No. CV-08-8069-PCT-PGR 

 

 ORDER

Pending before the Court is the defendant Oak Creek Vineyards and

Winery, Inc.’s motion to dismiss, filed June 19, 2008. Having reviewed the

motion, the Court sua sponte finds that the motion should be stricken from the

record.

The motion states that the defendant is an Arizona Subchapter S

Corporation, and that the two signatories of the motion, Michael Pearce and Deb

Wahl, are the defendant’s owners. Neither signatory is stated to be an attorney

licensed to practice before this Court.

The Court has no authority to allow the motion to dismiss to be filed

because, as the United States Supreme Court has noted, "[i]t has been the law

for the better part of two centuries ... that a corporation may appear in the federal

courts only through licensed counsel." Rowland v. California Men's Colony, 506

Case 3:08-cv-08069-PGR Document 10 Filed 06/30/08 Page 1 of 2
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U.S. 194, 113 S.Ct. 716, 721 (1993); accord, United States v. High Country

Broadcasting Co., Inc., 3 F.3d 1244, 1245 (9th Cir. 1993) (Same); Ramada Inns,

Inc. v. Lane & Bird Advertising, Inc., 102 Ariz. 127, 128, 426 P.2d 395 (1967)

("Absent statutory authority a corporation cannot practice law even in its own

behalf. A corporation cannot appear in court by an officer who is not an attorney,

and it cannot appear in propria persona."). Since the defendant corporation is not

represented by an attorney, it is not properly before this Court, In re Highley, 459

F.2d 554, 555-56 (9th Cir. 1972), and the defendant is admonished that it is

subject to being defaulted if it does not obtain representation by an attorney

authorized to practice before this Court. See High Country Broadcasting, 3 F.3d

at 1245. Therefore,

IT IS ORDERED that defendant Oak Creek Vineyards and Winery’s motion

to dismiss (doc. #8) is stricken from the record.

DATED this 30th day of June, 2008.

Case 3:08-cv-08069-PGR Document 10 Filed 06/30/08 Page 2 of 2