Professional Documents
Culture Documents
may claim in and to the SEABROOK Marks or any mark that is confusingly similar thereto.
17. Plaintiff markets, promotes and advertises its addiction treatment services
nationally and internationally to prospective patients looking for help treating alcohol and drug
addiction problems.
18. Plaintiff employs the use of national marketing and internet-based
advertising to promote its services under the SEABROOK Marks.
19. Plaintiff treats patients attracted from across the country and
internationally, as it is not uncommon for patients to travel to a facility separate, and often a
significant distance, from their home, family, friends and life in order to enroll in a facility
known to offer highly successful treatment plans.
DEFENDANT ELEMENTS
20. Defendant Elements is a direct competitor of Plaintiff, offering treatment
and rehabilitation programs in drug and alcohol addiction, sex addiction, eating disorders, and
mood and personality disorders.
21. Although headquartered in Long Beach, California, Defendant Elements
offers treatment locations nationally in California, Pennsylvania, Utah, Florida, Texas,
Tennessee, and Arizona, under such names as Clarity Way, Promises, Journey, Lucida,
The Ranch, The Recovery Place, The Right Step and others.
22. Upon information and belief, Defendant Elements first offered its
addiction treatment services in 2008 with the launch of its Promises locations.
23. Upon information and belief, much like Plaintiff, Defendant Elements
draws customers/patients nationally, often as a result of national reputation and internet-based
advertising to potential customers/patients seeking treatment for various addictions.
24. Defendant Elements also employs Regional Outreach Directors assigned
to specific U.S. geographic territories, including multiple individuals covering both NJ, PA, and
the Mid-Atlantic. According to content appearing on Defendant Elements web site at
http://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/about/regional-outreach-directors/, these individuals
serve as a liaison during the admissions process, throughout the treatment period, and for the
transition back to your [the patients] practice.
DEFENDANT RECOVERY BRANDS
25. Upon information and belief, Defendant Recovery Brands is an internet
marketing company, focusing primarily on the addiction treatment industry.
26. As promoted on the Defendant Recovery Brands website
(www.recoverybrands.com), its services include providing Internet directory sites and directory
listings for treatment facilities, purportedly assisting consumers in finding the right treatment
facility for their addiction treatment needs, as well as helpline support, and placing targeted
advertisements on Defendant Recovery Brands family of addiction treatment sites.
27. Upon information and belief, Defendant Recovery Brands family of
addiction treatment sites include, but are not limited to, www.rehabs.com (Rehabs.com)
www.4rehabs.com (4Rehabs.com), www.drugabuse.com, (DrugAbuse.com), and
www.recovery.com (Recovery.com) (collectively the Recovery Brands Websites), and likely
many others, each offering similar directory, call center, and targeted advertising services for
addiction treatment centers.
28. Upon information and belief, Defendant Elements and Defendant
Recovery Brands are partners in operating the Recovery Brands Websites, providing addiction
treatment center directory services, advertising Defendant Elements Promises centers, and
working with Defendant Elements to operate call centers for each site.
29. Upon information and belief, the Recovery Brands Websites have all
operated in a substantially similar manner since 2012.
44. Moreover, when one then clicks on the link on DrugAbuse.com for
Seabrook House: James Franc Mulligan, MD, one is taken to a page stating Seabrook House:
Mulligan James Franc MD has not yet added their full program details. To learn more call them at
the number above, or call 1 (800) 943-0566 to talk to a helpful advisor about your options for
addiction treatment (emphasis added). See Ex. C. Upon information and belief, that number
above is the same 1-800 number for Defendant Elements call center.
45. Upon information and belief, when one calls the 1-800 number identified
on the DrugAbuse.com search results pages, an operator attempts to divert the potential
customer/patient to a facility owned and operated by Elements, rather than the originally
intended location searched.
46. To date, Plaintiff has never received a referral nor been connected to a
potential customer/patient as a result of an inquiry made for Seabrook House via
Drugabuse.com.
47. Upon information and belief, potential customer/patients of Plaintiffs
Seabrook House facilities, who have used the DrugAbuse.com directory, have been diverted
from Plaintiff to Defendant Elements and/or a third party treatment center recommended by
Defendant Elements.
Website 4Rehabs.com
48. At the website for 4Rehabs.com, a far more egregious process occurred
wherein a visitor of 4Rehabs.com would enter the site and enter the name of the treatment center
they were looking for in the search directory. The search then returned the desired location.
49. When one inserted the name SEABROOK HOUSE in the search page
for 4Rehabs.com, a results page accurately identified Plaintiffs Seabrook House facilities
located at Bridgeton, New Jersey (with address).
50. The 4Rehabs.com site would also replicate selected written content and
photographic material taken directly from Plaintiffs website homepage, describing Plaintiffs
services using the exact content from Plaintiffs website www.seabrookhouse.com to promote its
SEABROOK HOUSE branded services.
51. In lieu of providing a phone number for Plaintiff, however, a separate toll
free 1-800 number appeared prominently across the header of the page and directly after the
copied SEABROOK HOUSE website content, stating Need Guidance? Call 877-959-4292 to
speak with an expert.
52. The phone number 877-959-4292 is not a number owned, operated, or in
any way affiliated with Plaintiff.
53. Upon information and belief, the phone number 877-959-4292 that
appeared with the Seabrook House directory listing on 4Rehabs.com is an answering service/call
center for Defendant Elements.
54. Upon information and belief, when one called the 1-800 number identified
on the search results page, an operator attempted to divert the potential customer/patient to a
facility owned and operated by Elements, rather than the originally intended location searched.
55. To date, Plaintiff has never received a referral nor been connected to a
potential customer/patient as a result of an inquiry made for Seabrook House via 4Rehabs.com.
56. Upon information and belief, potential customer/patients of Plaintiffs
Seabrook House facilities, who have used the 4Rehabs.com directory, have been diverted from
Plaintiff to Defendant Elements and/or a third party treatment center recommended by Defendant
Elements.
57. After recent complaints by Plaintiff to Defendant Elements about its
deceptive advertising/marketing on the 4Rehabs.com website, which upon information a new
homepage now appears stating Maintenance Mode and preventing visitors from accessing any
further functionality of the website. See Ex. D (current 4Rehabs.com current webpage).
58. Despite the recent Maintenance Mode home page, absent Court
JURY DEMAND
Pursuant to Rule 38 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiff hereby demands a
trial by jury of all issues so triable.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dated: August 26, 2014
FOX ROTHSCHILD, LLP
Attorneys for Plaintiff Seabrook House, Inc.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
SEABROOK HOUSE, INC.,
Plaintiff, CIVIL ACTION NO.
v.
ELEMENTS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, INC.,
And RECOVERY BRANDS, LLC,
d/b/a Rehabs.com, d/b/a Drugabuse.com, d/b/a and 4rehabs.com
Defendants.
L. CIV. R. 11.2 CERTIFICATION
(Document Filed Electronically)
Plaintiff Seabrook House, Inc., its undersigned counsel, hereby certifies pursuant to Local
Civil Rule 11.2 that the matter in controversy in the present action is not the subject of any other
action pending in any court, or of any other arbitration or administrative proceeding.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dated: August 26, 2014
FOX ROTHSCHILD, LLP
Attorneys for Plaintiff Seabrook House, Inc.