Snapchat maker faces trademark lawsuit after rebrand
A US social networking company called Snap Interactive has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Snap Inc, formerly known as Snapchat.
Snap Interactive filed its lawsuit at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, October 25 against Snap Inc for “blatant trade name and trademark infringement” and unfair competition.
Snap Inc announced on September 24 that it had changed the name of its company from Snapchat.
Co-founder Evan Spiegel wrote a blog post on the site where he said that as the company is “developing other products, like spectacles, we need a name that goes beyond just one product”.
He added: “We decided to drop the ‘chat’ and go with Snap Inc.”
Spiegel and Bobby Murphy founded the company in 2011.
The suit claimed that Snap Interactive has used the term ‘Snap’ as its trade name since 2008. It is used in connection with social networking.
Further, the social networking company has trademarks registered at the US Patent and Trademark Office for a ‘Snap’ logo and ‘Snap Interactive’, which were both registered in March 2012.
The suit also alleged that Snap Inc’s recent rebranding of its trade name “incorporates plaintiff’s ‘Snap’ name in its entirety” and is confusingly similar to Snap Interactive’s marks.
Snap Inc allegedly chose the new trade name “with full knowledge” of Snap Interactive’s trade name and marks.
The business added that Snap Inc’s conduct constitutes unfair competition.
Snap Interactive is asking for actual and punitive damages, costs, disbursements, pre-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees.
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