‘Shakespeare in the Park’ creators target hotel owner in TM suit
A New York-based arts organisation has filed a trademark infringement suit against an entrepreneur and hotel owner.
The Public Theater, which is known for presenting “Shakespeare in the Park” every summer in New York City's Central Park, filed the complaint on Thursday, February 21 at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
According to the filing, Ian Schrager, who owns New York City-based hotel PUBLIC, infringed three of The Public Theater’s trademarks by using the name “Public” and a very similar logo.
The hotel is also home to a nightclub venue, Public Arts.
The Public Theater owns the marks ‘Public.’, ‘The Public’ and ‘Joe’s Pub’, all of which are registered in connection with entertainment services, including live theatrical and cabaret performances, and seminars, workshops and classes concerning theatre arts and production.
Schrager’s Public Arts regularly stages live musical and theatrical performances. According to the filing, the venue recently hosted an extended run of “Carmen: To Havana and Back”, an adaptation of the Broadway musical “Carmen Jones”.
The Public Theater said Public Arts’ advertisements of the performance directly infringed its trademark by using ‘Public’ in connection with theatrical performances and entertainment.
According to the filing, The Public Theater notified Schrager in September 2017 that using the word ‘Public’ in this way “infringed, diluted and otherwise unfairly competed” with its own marks, but Schrager continued to use the word.
The Public Theater said Schrager’s use of the mark is wilful, deliberate and likely to cause confusion among consumers, who may think the two companies are associated with one another.
In its complaint, The Public Theatre asked the court to permanently enjoin Schrager from using the ‘Public’ marks in relation to live performances and entertainment.
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