"An unlikely lawsuit started as Citigroup filed a complaint against AT&T, which the credit card company says is infringing upon its trademark. AT&T did not steal Citigroup's logo or slogan or anything of the sort, but it did have the audacity to use the word "thanks" in a campaign addressing customer-loyalty. The bank sued the telecom company, underlining the fact that it has secured a trademark for the word "thanks" some years ago. This is not a late April Fool's Day joke, although we really wish it was. According to the legal complaint that was filed in a Manhattan federal court, AT&T's campaign infringes a few of the trademarks of Citigroup. For example, the credit card enterprise owns both "Citi ThankYou" and "ThankYou." Gizmodo showcases a picture of the patent, in case you need to see it to believe it. As a reminder, Citigroup has been making use of the "ThankYou" trademark since 2004, when it began a customer-loyalty program. The company says that over seven million of its clients have credit cards with the ThankYou slogan written in big letter across them."
Issues and developments related to IP, AI, and OM, examined in the IP and tech ethics graduate courses I teach at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. My Bloomsbury book "Ethics, Information, and Technology", coming in Summer 2025, includes major chapters on IP, AI, OM, and other emerging technologies (IoT, drones, robots, autonomous vehicles, VR/AR). Kip Currier, PhD, JD
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Citigroup Sues AT&T Over 'Thanks' Word: Copyright Infringement; Tech Times, 6/12/16
Horia Ungureanu, Tech Times; Citigroup Sues AT&T Over 'Thanks' Word: Copyright Infringement:
[Kip Currier: 2 mistakes in this Tech Times article: 1. In the headline. Copyright is neither relevant nor at issue in this case. 2. The Tech Times article's author says "Gizmodo showcases a picture of the patent, in case you need to see it to believe it.", but Patent is not relevant in this case either.
These are two striking examples of how different types of intellectual property are so often misunderstood and confused with one another. This story is an example of Trademark and Gizmodo gets the story right.]
Labels:
alleged infringement,
AT&T,
Citigroup,
copyright,
patents,
trademarks
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