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4 March 2020TrademarksEdward Pearcey

S&P Global sues call centre group for trademark infringement

Global financial services and products provider S&P Global is suing call centre group S&P Data for multiple trademark infringements, arguing the ‘S&P’ element of the name is likely to cause confusion.

The filing, made at the US District Court Southern District of New York on Tuesday, March 3, saw plaintiffs S&P Global and Standard & Poor's Financial Services claim “trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution, and unfair competition”, following the defendant’s alleged move into financial services.

S&P Global describes itself in the court documents as “the largest resource for business data analytics, credit ratings, and business research”, including the “famous S&P 500 Index that is widely regarded as the best gauge of large-cap US equities”.

“S&P [Global] owns numerous US federal registrations for the S&P trademark, alone or in combination with other words and elements,” said the filing.

Meanwhile, S&P Data describes itself (via its website) as a “leading North American contact centre group” with facilities throughout the US and Canada.

“Long prior to the S&P Data of the ‘S&P DATA’ trademark, S&P has extensively sold, promoted and advertised goods and services, primarily in the form of data, bearing or offered in connection with the S&P trademarks,” said the filing.

As a result, S&P Global has built up “highly valuable goodwill in the S&P trademarks, which have become uniquely identified and associated with S&P,” it added.

The filing claims that S&P Data “specifically touts that the business goes beyond those associated with a typical call centre”.

S&P Data has developed an “increasing focus” on the financial services field and other sectors provided by S&P Global, said the claim, which added that the call centre group’s website had been revised in recent years to target those sectors.

S&P Global is seeking an injunctive order to stop S&P Data from permanently using ‘S&P Data’, the destruction of all material featuring the S&P Data name and logo, and damages (to be calculated at a later date).

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