beststockfoto-shutterstock-com-snap-inc-
27 October 2016Trademarks

Snapchat maker faces trademark lawsuit after rebrand

A US social networking company called Snap Interactive has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Snap Inc, formerly known as Snapchat.

Snap Interactive filed its lawsuit at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, October 25 against Snap Inc for “blatant trade name and trademark infringement” and unfair competition.

Snap Inc announced on September 24 that it had changed the name of its company from Snapchat.

Co-founder Evan Spiegel wrote a blog post on the site where he said that as the company is “developing other products, like spectacles, we need a name that goes beyond just one product”.

He added: “We decided to drop the ‘chat’ and go with Snap Inc.”

Spiegel and Bobby Murphy founded the company in 2011.

The suit claimed that Snap Interactive has used the term ‘Snap’ as its trade name since 2008. It is used in connection with social networking.

Further, the social networking company has trademarks registered at the US Patent and Trademark Office for a ‘Snap’ logo and ‘Snap Interactive’, which were both registered in March 2012.

The suit also alleged that Snap Inc’s recent rebranding of its trade name “incorporates plaintiff’s ‘Snap’ name in its entirety” and is confusingly similar to Snap Interactive’s marks.

Snap Inc allegedly chose the new trade name “with full knowledge” of Snap Interactive’s trade name and marks.

The business added that Snap Inc’s conduct constitutes unfair competition.

Snap Interactive is asking for actual and punitive damages, costs, disbursements, pre-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees.

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk


More on this story

Patents
4 November 2016   A subsidiary of Tel Aviv University, in Israel, has accused Snap Inc, formerly known as Snapchat, of patent infringement.
Patents
6 February 2017   Snap, formerly known as Snapchat, has been caught up in a patent infringement claim on the same day that it filed for an initial public offering in the US.