In a legal action that took place over several months, the builders group Master Pools Guild accused another pool contractor of copying its branding to create the appearance of a connection.
The company’s name too closely resembled MPG’s, said the group, which also claimed that the builder refused to make changes after receiving a cease and desist letter.
Master Pools, based in Alexandria, Va., said the builder’s actions infringed federal and state trademarks and service marks and further charged the defendant with unfair competition.
“Defendants’ infringing acts ... have caused and are likely to cause confusion, mistake, and deception among the relevant consuming public as to the source or origin of the defendant’s good and services and have and are likely to deceive the relevant consuming public into believing, mistakenly, that defendant’s goods and services originate from, are associated or affiliated with, or otherwise authorized by the plaintiff,” the company alleged in court documents.
The group said the builder willfully caused confusion with its name and alleged that the similarities were damaging to Master Pools’ reputation.
The group asked the court for an injunction preventing the company from using the name and branding, as well as damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and any profits that it deemed were gained from using a name similar to Master Pools Guild’s.
The defendant denied the accusations saying, in part, that it had changed its name and branding after receiving the letter from Master Pools Guild. Additionally, it said the builders group suffered no damages and that the name would not have caused confusion among the public.
The parties settled, with an injunction issued by the court as part of the agreement. Other conditions of the settlement were kept confidential. The settlement was not an admission of guilt.
Dick Covert, executive director for Master Pools Guild, said the group must often combat similar situations on a regular basis. In this case, the defendant was located near a Master Pools member, which exacerbates concerns about muddying the group’s trademark.
The group even recently had another company adopt a similar name, then link its website to a specific Master Pools member’s to make it seem like they were affiliated or the same.
“We run across [these instances] several times a year, where a member will point it out or somebody will pull up a website,” Covert said.
“All we want is for it to be legitimate,” he continued. “We don’t care that much about suing somebody — we just want to protect our name.”
