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16 May 2017Trademarks

AIG sued for TM infringement, asked to change name

Insurance corporation American International Group (AIG) has been sued for trademark infringement by an insurance agency which has demanded that AIG change its name.

A.I.G Agency, based in St Louis, Missouri, filed the claim on Friday, May 12 at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division.

“At least as early as 1962, A.I.G. provided customers and potential customers with advertising and promotional materials, including pencils, which used the AIG mark,” said the claim.

The suit alleged that AIG’s website states that a company-wide contest to design the first logo for AIG was held in 1973.

A.I.G Agency went on to list eight examples of “actual confusion” between A.I.G Agency and AIG, including phone calls and emails that had been sent to the wrong address.

Details of correspondence between the two were also disclosed, in which it was claimed that in 1995 AIG’s counsel contacted A.I.G and informed it that the insurer “objected to A.I.G.’s use of the AIG mark and stated that use of the AIG mark creates a serious likelihood of confusion.

“Defendant AIG has tried on more than one occasion to stop A.I.G. from using the AIG mark, despite the undisputed fact that A.I.G. is the senior user of the AIG mark,” it added.

A.I.G Agency is requesting that AIG “must change its trade name to a name that does not incorporate ‘AIG’” or any other confusingly similar name, as well as an injunction, damages, attorneys’ fees and a jury trial.

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