Trademark Law Center: Trademark Law Movers & Shakers: NAMESAFE Sues LifeLock for Attempt to Steal NAMESAFE Corporate Identity; Suit alleges Trademark Infringement, Deceptive Trade Practices, Consumer Protection Act Violation and others

Trademark Law Movers & Shakers

6/27/2008 11:47:05 AM EST

NAMESAFE Sues LifeLock for Attempt to Steal NAMESAFE Corporate Identity; Suit alleges Trademark Infringement, Deceptive Trade Practices, Consumer Protection Act Violation and others

Posted by LexisNexis Trademark Law Center Staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On Wednesday, attorneys for NAMESAFE filed a Federal Complaint in the Middle District of Tennessee against identity theft protection company LifeLock asserting that LifeLock and its CEO Todd Davis attempted to steal the trademark and deceptively divert traffic from search engine users intending to go to NAMESAFE.com. The suit alleges various violations of Trademark Laws and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, as well as other causes of action, asserting that LifeLock has attempted to lead unsuspecting consumers who may have intended to go to Namesafe.com to LifeLock.com instead.

"We have discovered that LifeLock has been sponsoring advertisements on most major search engines including (among others) Google, Yahoo, Lycos, MSN, Dogpile, and AOL, that deceptively led consumers to Lifelock.com. Specifically, when you searched 'Namesafe.com' in any major search engine, you found an advertisement that said 'Namesafe.com' but when you clicked on it, you were not directed to the official site for NAMESAFE ( http://www.namesafe.com/ ), but rather to our competitor, LifeLock.com," said NAMESAFE founder and CEO David Ridings. "It is one of the most bizarre attempts to steal a company brand and its costumers that I have personally seen. Ironically enough, we consider it a form of 'corporate identity theft' from a company that is in the business of protecting identities, and we really could not tolerate it. Having said that, we expect it will stop today."

The suit filed Wednesday, June 25, 2008, seeks statutory damages and attorney fees, as well as injunctive relief for the wrongful use of the NAMESAFE brand, and the deceptive/misleading advertising practices.

About NAMESAFE

Founded by former police officer and attorney David Ridings, NAMESAFE gives consumers an innovative option for total protection against what proves to be the fastest growing crime in America. Not only do they protect clients from becoming victims of identity theft, they will also provide legal support across the nation to assist clients in the prosecution of anyone captured as a result of the fraud alerts they set -- a benefit not offered by any other company in this industry.

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BrandVerity
Last Post: 7/1/2008 7:23:42 PM

Subject: NAMESAFE Sues LifeLock for Attempt to Steal NAMESAFE Corporate Identity; Suit alleges Trademark Infringement, Deceptive Trade Practices, Consumer Protection Act Violation and others

Date Posted: 7/1/2008 7:23:42 PM

I think it is worth noting that Lifelock claimed they didn't buy the ads, it was one of their 3,000 affiliate partners. While the law governing trademarks in search engine advertising is certainly evolving, it is clear that companies need to not only carefully consider their campaigns, but those of their partners. BrandVerity sells a trademark abuse alerting service that companies can use to monitor their trademarks (or their partner's use of competitors trademarks).

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