SAN FRANCISCO — The owner of a Frank Lloyd Wright estate in Orinda has ignored a federal lawsuit alleging trademark infringement — and now, the lack of a response could cost him three times whatever he has made in renting the site for weddings and other events.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco entered a default order April 10 against Gerald Shmavonian over his failure to respond to the lawsuit.
The foundation contends that Shmavonian has infringed on the foundation’s trademark and design to market and promote the Orinda home “for his own commercial gain.” In addition, the foundation contends that Shmavonian “registered in bad faith” the domain name www.franklloydwrightestate.com and is capitalizing on the foundation’s reputation “of commercially advertising the home for use as a ‘Special Event Venue,’ ” the complaint alleges.
The foundation is seeking to prevent Shmavonian from using the foundation’s trademark and design and is also seeking triple damages of all the profits that Shmavonian has made, along with attorneys’ fees and legal expenses, the complaint says. The foundation intends to move for default judgment against Shmavonian, according to the complaint.
Shmavonian could not be reached for comment via phone and email.
According to the lawsuit, Shmavonian has not responded to published summons in the East Bay Times or to any of the previous repeated attempts to reach him in person, by mail or email.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1940 by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The foundation’s mission is to preserve Wright’s legacy and his properties.
The foundation owns the federally registered trademarks that make up the Frank Lloyd Wright name and also registered the website domain names featuring the Frank Lloyd Wright mark, according to the complaint.
Shmavonian registered the website’s domain name on Dec. 22, 2015, and the foundation says it contacted Shmavonian to resolve the issue. But Shmavonian’s website is still active, as is a Facebook page advertising the property, also known as the Maynard Buehler House in Orinda.
Shmavonian also faces $5,000 in fines from the city of Orinda over weddings at the estate. He began holding the weddings after the venue was featured in a 2016 Vogue magazine article, which mentioned the estate on a short list of special wedding venues.
The weddings have led to complaints from neighbors, who began taking photos and videos of the weddings, music, catering trucks, portable toilets on streets and people parking vehicles in neighbors’ driveways and on lawns.
In response, Orinda began citing Shmavonian, saying the weddings violated the city’s zoning law banning commercial activities in residential neighborhoods.
In 1948, Frank Lloyd Wright designed the house for inventor Maynard Buehler and his wife, Katherine Buehler. In 2006, the estate was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. After the Buehlers died, the estate was put up for sale. Shamavonian bought the estate for $3.3 million in 2013.
