Travelers takes on investment firm over umbrella logo
Insurance business The Travelers Indemnity Company has taken on investment advisory firm Virtue Capital Management in a trademark claim.
Travelers, in a filing at the US District Court for the District of Connecticut on Friday, May 5, alleged that Virtue had infringed its “famous and iconic” ‘Umbrella’ logo.
The logo, a red umbrella, has been used for more than 50 years by Travelers and its predecessors, according to the lawsuit.
“Despite the fame of the Travelers umbrella logo, defendant adopted confusingly similar umbrella logos of its own to promote and sell its financial sector services,” it added.
The insurance business claimed that in March 2016, Virtue launched a website called www.retirementanswers101.com to offer a “comprehensive financial education course”.
It added that the education service covered various topics, including life insurance and annuities, and that between March and November 2016, the homepage and course materials used a “prominent reddish upright umbrella logo” to promote Virtue’s products and services.
In addition to the umbrella logo on the website, Virtue is accused of using a small umbrella logo to promote its financial sector services and of filing a trademark application for it in the US.
Travelers said that in August last year it had objected to the use of the logo, and in response, Virtue abandoned its trademark application and replaced most uses of the small logo with a parachute logo.
“In or about November 2016, defendant made minor, non-material changes to the large umbrella logo by replacing the umbrella handle from the logo with a box and added faint lines connecting the box to the umbrella canopy,” said the claim.
But according to the insurance company, between September 2016 and February 2017, it asked Virtue to amend its large canopy logo to a parachute logo, which it has not done.
Travelers is seeking a permanent injunction, destruction of infringing material, profits, compensatory damages, punitive damages and a jury trial.
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