Uber name battle comes to an end
IT provider Uber Operations has dismissed its trademark complaint against taxi company Uber Technologies (Uber).
The case was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice by Uber Operations on Monday, December 25, 2017. It was then dismissed by a clerk from the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida on Tuesday, January 2, 2018.
Uber Operations filed its trademark complaint in August last year, asking the court to enjoin taxi-hailing company Uber from using the Uber name.
Florida-based Uber Operations provides data integration and cloud computing services to the healthcare industry. It was founded in 2004.
In 2012, Uber Operations registered ‘Uber Operations’ under US trademark number 4,173,895, covering “advisory services in the field of product development and quality improvement” in class 42, and project management services in class 35. It has also registered ‘UberXchange’ and ‘UberMover’ as trademarks in the US.
Uber Operations also owns multiple domain names, such as uberops.com, while Uber owns the domain name uber.com.
Uber registered the mark ‘Uber’ as US trademark number 3,977,893 in 2011, covering “computer software for coordinating transportation services, namely, software for the automated scheduling and dispatch of motorised vehicles”.
Three years later, Uber applied for registration of the mark and design of ‘Uber’ for use in connection with “mobile application software for connecting drivers and passengers”. The trademark application is no longer active.
Uber Operations alleged that the transportation company’s use of the ‘Uber’ mark was causing customer confusion due to the brand similarity.
Uber Operations claimed to have received thousands of correspondences intended for Uber, “resulting in lost time and productivity”, according to the claim.
“Uber Operations has no adequate remedy at law relative to the continued and future harm expected to be suffered from Uber’s continued conduct,” the complaint said.
At the time, Uber Operations was seeking injunctive relief, alongside triple damages and a transfer of profits. It also requested that Uber’s trademark for the mark ‘Uber’ be cancelled.
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