Freesat and Amazon square up in trademark battle
Satellite television service Freesat has sued online retailer Amazon, claiming a feature it offers through its Kindle service infringes its trademark.
Freesat has filed a complaint at the UK High Court alleging that Amazon’s recent launch of Kindle FreeTime has violated its trademark for its set-top box, also called FreeTime.
Both companies have a trademark for the name but they were issued a year apart.
Kindle FreeTime streams children’s TV shows and movies over the web to Kindle tablets and also allows users to download apps and books.
Freesat’s FreeTime is a set-top box that lets users manage recordings and TV programmes.
Freesat, which is jointly owned by the BBC and ITV, launched the platform in September 2012.
In its complaint, Freesat said it has spent more than £5 million promoting FreeTime since it was awarded a UK trademark in 2011.
Amazon first launched Kindle FreeTime in 2012 in the US and filed for a European trademark for ‘KINDLE FREETIME’ in October that year.
It was granted in May 2013 at the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market and covers the same products and services as Freesat’s trademark, including audio and video transmission and tablet devices.
A spokesperson for Freesat confirmed it had launched a lawsuit regarding the trademark.
“Freetime is an award-winning internet-connected television service that is an increasingly important part of Freesat’s business. As this is a legal matter, we are unable to comment further,” it added.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this year, WIPR reported that Amazon was also being sued by adult video streaming site Fyre TV over the rights to the name of its recently launched Fire TV set-top box.
