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14 October 2019TrademarksSaman Javed

Online bank sues Facebook’s Calibra over ‘identical’ logo

Online bank  Current has filed a trademark infringement suit against Facebook over the logo of the social media company’s new financial services subsidiary,  Calibra.

The complaint, filed October 10 at the  US District Court for the Southern District of New York, said Facebook’s Calibra logo design is “nearly identical” to Current’s logo.

In 2016, Current employed branding agency  Character SF, which is also named as a defendant in the suit, to design its logo for use in connection with its banking services.

It said the dispute arose when Facebook announced the formation of its financial services subsidiary Calibra in June. The first product Calibra will introduce is a digital wallet for Libra, a new global currency powered by blockchain technology.

According to the filing, Facebook also hired Character SF to create Calibra’s branding identity.

“Because Current had previously engaged Character to design the Current trademarks, Character had full knowledge of the Current marks,” the filing said.

Additionally, Current said the branding agency knew the Calibra logo design was “not only confusingly similar to, but virtually identical” to the online bank’s logo.

“Character failed to inform the Calibra that it was providing them with a logo design nearly identical to the logo design Character had previously created for Current for use in connection with nearly identical banking services,” the complaint said.

In its request for an injunction, Current said it had sent Calibra several letters objecting to its use of the infringing mark, but all efforts to come to a mutually acceptable resolution had been unsuccessful.

WIPR has contacted Facebook for comment.

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