FHI Brands Prevails in Lawsuit With Farouk Systems

LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- FHI Brands, a leading provider of professional hair care products, today announced that Senior Judge Nancy F. Atlas of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued an order dismissing with prejudice a lawsuit filed by Farouk Systems, Inc. against its affiliate FHI Heat. FHI Brands and Farouk Systems both manufacture and sell hair products.

"We are pleased that the Court dismissed this flawed and outrageous lawsuit," said Shauky Gulamani, President and Chief Executive Officer of FHI Brands. "Farouk Systems filed this lawsuit in order to attempt to harass us and to impair our growth. We applaud the Court's decision to see it for what it was and are gratified that this inappropriate use of the court system has failed."

In her ruling, Judge Atlas held that Farouk Systems "failed to present evidence that raises a genuine issue of material fact regarding at least one essential element of each of its claims." In particular, she found that FHI Heat did not infringe on Farouk Systems' copyrights because there was no evidence that Farouk Systems holds valid copyrights to the works in question; claims of trade dress infringement related to the use of a red and black color combination were invalid because its use was generic and not consistently used by Farouk Systems; and FHI Heat did not breach a contract with Farouk Systems because no contract exists between the two parties.

Attorneys for FHI Heat recently filed a motion to require Farouk Systems to pay for its fees and costs because Farouk Systems filed the lawsuit for improper purposes. Namely, "[Farouk Systems] filed this action in an attempt to cripple a competitor by forcing it to incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to defend a sham trade dress infringement claim and interfere with its business."

As part of that motion, attorneys for FHI Heat introduced evidence that Farouk Shami, founder and CEO of Farouk Systems, was verbally abusive and threatened FHI Heat CEO Shauky Gulamani. In particular, according to Gulamani, in a crowded lobby during the STYLUS Launch at Armstrong McCall Sales meeting Farouk Shami aggressively confronted Gulamani and threatened to "[b]eat the shit out of him," shouted homophobic slurs and called him a "Queer." In deposition, Shami confirmed the confrontation, and that he threatened "to sue [Gulamani's] ass", but denied threatening violence or calling him a "Queer."

Shauky Gulamani was the President of Farouk Systems prior to becoming President and CEO of FHI Brands.

FHI Heat and Shauky Gulamani were represented in the action by Matthew Seror, Robert Addison, Jr., and Russell Allyn, of Buchalter Nemer, P.C. in Los Angeles, and by Mark Levine of Weycer, Kaplan, Pulaski & Zuber, P.C. in Houston.

ABOUT FHI BRANDS

FHI Brands owns FHI Heat®, STYLUS™, NEO▼BOND™, Hair Veil™ and Daily Beauty. FHI Heat is a world-renowned provider of Professional Hair Care products that creates the highest quality and technologically advanced hair tools in the beauty industry. STYLUS, the Award Winning, Favorite New Innovative Hair Tool launched a revolutionary line of thermal styling brushes and hair care that caused beauty buzz internationally. Hair Veil Powder Hair Filler is a game changer that gives the appearance of thicker, richer, fuller hair eliminating shiny spots, exposed scalp and camouflages scars. Daily Beauty provides smooth, shiny, frizz-free hair. Neo-Bond is a revolutionary formula that repairs and protects the hair. Add it to your chemical services, and after one use, the results are instant and jaw dropping. Your client will be transformed with healthier hair. For more information visit http://fhibrands.com or call Toll-Free 1-877-344-4328.

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SOURCE FHI Brands

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