The complaint

The case is Lerman Container Corp. v. ARO Connection, Inc., No. 2:26-cv-13166-MAG-CI (E.D. Mich.), filed September 2, 2026 with a jury demand. Lerman Container, which does business as eBottles, is a Florida corporation based in Jupiter, Florida that the complaint describes as a packaging supplier for the cannabis industry, among others. ARO Connection is a Michigan corporation based in Troy, Michigan.

The design patents

U.S. Design Patent D781,151 issued March 14, 2017, and U.S. Design Patent D797,559, from a division of the '151 application, issued September 19, 2017. Both are titled Jar, and each claims the ornamental design for a jar, as shown and described. The complaint says the '151 patent covers the eBottles 9 ml concentrate jar and the '559 patent its 5 ml jar, that Lerman owns both by assignment, and that the base of its 9 ml jars is marked with the '151 patent number and its website displays both patent numbers.

The complaint says a reexamination of the '151 patent requested February 11, 2019 ended with a certificate, No. US D781,151 C1, issued November 30, 2021, confirming patentability of the claimed design, and that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board denied an inter partes review petition against the '151 patent, filed July 1, 2024, on January 22, 2025.

The infringement allegations

Lerman alleges that ARO sells 9 ml and 5 ml glass jars that are nearly identical to the patented designs, so that an ordinary observer would be deceived into thinking they are the patented jars, and that ARO directly, contributorily, and by inducement infringes both patents. It alleges that it notified ARO by letters dated April 30, 2026 and June 29, 2026, that ARO has never been licensed, and that the infringement has been willful. The prayer asks for judgments of infringement and willfulness, an injunction, impoundment and destruction of the jars and the molds used to make them, an accounting, actual damages trebled and ARO's profits (the counts cite 35 U.S.C. 289 for total profits), attorneys' fees, and interest.

What to watch next

The docket shows the summons issued September 3, 2026 and no later filings. Watch for service and ARO's answer or Rule 12 motion.