A Las Vegas-based screen printer has run afoul of Formula One (F1).

The global car-racing championship filed a lawsuit that accuses E & B Wholesalers Inc. of trademark infringement, trademark counterfeiting and unfair competition under the Lanham Act.

E & B identifies itself as a provider of souvenir T-shirts and screen-printing services. According to the federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Nevada, E & B manufactured and supplied 516 merch items – including T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts – that featured F1’s legally held trademarks. E & B, the suit says, provided the branded merchandise to four businesses in Clark County, NV.

The alleged violations occurred from June 2023 through November 2023 in the lead-up to what was then the first-ever Las Vegas Grand Prix, according to the lawsuit, which was filed May 13, 2025.

“Defendant’s products deceived consumers into mistakenly believing that they were purchasing F1 merchandise associated, affiliated, or approved by Plaintiffs when, in fact, they were buying Counterfeit F1 Merchandise,” the lawsuit asserts. “The manufacture and sale of Counterfeit F1 Merchandise … harms the goodwill and reputation of Plaintiffs and tarnishes the F1 brand.”

The suit said the trademark violations cause further “irreparable injury” to F1 by undermining “the investment made by Plaintiffs, the Formula 1 Companies and their partners to host the Las Vegas Grand Prix.”

F1 is asking the court to find E & B guilty of trademark infringement and related charges, and to enjoin the company from committing such alleged infringement again. Among other remedies, F1 wants E & B ordered to surrender profits from sales of the alleged illicit merch and for the printer to be ordered to pay “three times Plaintiffs’ damages suffered as a result of Defendant’s willful, intentional and deliberate acts in violation of the Lanham Act.”

As of this writing, E & B had not yet responded to the suit.

Trademark pros have filled ASI Media in on strategies for avoiding trademark infringement – something that should be a focus for promotional products and print companies that deal daily with logos and graphics intended for public consumption.

One tip to avoid infringement is to engage in a trademark search in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). “By entering prospective marks of interest in TESS, business owners can identify and eliminate highly similar marks from their short list,” said Derrick Davis, a trademark attorney, “which ultimately saves time and money in any legal fees to be incurred.”