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Thursday, December 27, 2007

Ind. Courts - "Angie's List is suing a rival over unfair use of its well-known logo"

From this Indianapolis Star story by Tom Spalding:

Angie's List, well known for its cartoon-character logo of a servicewoman giving a thumbs-up, is giving a thumbs-down to a publishing rival.

Brownstone Publishing, parent company of the Indianapolis-based online directory of local businesses, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Ameritech Publishing, alleging Ameritech violated the Angie's List copyright.

The suit was filed Dec. 10 [ILB- sic.] in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Brownstone alleges Ameritech published Angie's List ratings in the yellow-page telephone directory listings of the businesses.

Angie's List calls its five logos "service marks" - which include the servicewoman giving a thumbs-up.

Angie's List executives say that in the first half of 2007, they repeatedly brought to Ameritech's attention that a version of its logos appeared in ads for companies that do gutter repair, glass installation and plumbing.

"Ameritech assured plaintiff that it would cease," the lawsuit states. "However, these promises were mere lip service. In fact ... when Ameritech released its 2007-08 Yellow Pages ... it continued to infringe."

The ILB has obtained and posted a copy of the 17-page complaint, dated and filed Dec. 19, 2007.

Among the remedies requested, on p. 16:

#3 That Ameritech be required to deliver to Plaintiff proof of destruction or all Yellow Pages directories possessed, used or distributed by Ameritech, or on their behalf, which refer to or are at all similar to Plaintiff's Marks;

#4. That Ameritech be required to account to Plaintiff for any and all profits gained by Ameritech through the conduct complained of herein and to pay all such profits over to Plaintiff.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 27, 2007 12:38 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts