SAN FRANCISCO–The Supreme Court has declined to review a trademark dispute between two credit unions following a lower court ruling that a failed infringement claim rendered a trademark cancellation irrelevant.
As CUToday.info has reported and as Bloomberg Law updated, the case involves a dispute between credit unions over the trademark “CEFCU. Not a Bank. Better,” which is owned by Illinois-based Citizens Equity First Credit Union.
According to Bloomberg Law, San Diego County Credit Union’s petition argued a U.S. district court’s declaratory judgment against Citizens Equity First Credit Union should have been allowed to stand. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned that order, saying the district court should have nixed the effort once SDCCU won a decision.
As CUToday.info originally reported here, San Diego County Credit Union had alleged CEFCU had committed fraud before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
San Diego County Credit Union owns more than 40 trademark registrations related to its services, including the mark “It’s Not Big Bank Banking. It’s Better.”... In a lawsuit filed in May of 2017, SDDCU alleged CEFCU filed a petition with the Patent Office stating it wanted SDCCU’s trademark cancelled, as it is too close to CEFCU’s slogan, “CEFCU. Not a bank. Better.” CEFCU said the similarity causes confusion.
As CUToday.info also reported, San Diego County Credit Union had filed suit arguing CEFCU’s actions pose a threat to the credit union and further stating it was unaware of any confusion among consumers when it comes to the two credit unions. SDCCU also argued that many credit unions use similar slogans that seek to create differentiation with banks.
While it is based in Illinois, CEFCU entered the Northern California market in 2008 following a merger.
A copy of the original complaint can be found here.
Just Because It’s Autumn Doesn’t Mean Falling for Schemes to Overcharge You for CU Industry News. Instead, Try This Crisp Offer
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more. So stop paying those bank-fee-like subscription prices from other so-called “news”” publications!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?