IBM forced to think after being hit with trademark claim

IBM has been sued for trademark infringement in a dispute centring on an advertising campaign.

In a lawsuit filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Connecticut-based marketing company Outthink claimed that IBM’s use of the phrase ‘Outthink’ infringes two trademarks it owns for the term.

Outthink owns registered US trademarks for both the term ‘Outthink’ and the company’s logo, which shows the word in blue and green letters with an upside down exclamation mark in place of the letter ‘i’.

The marketing company said that since it first used the marks 14 years ago, it has invested “substantial resources” into ensuring that the public associates the marks with its services and has promoted the company on social networks including Twitter and LinkedIn.

According to the complaint, in October 2015 IBM launched an advertising campaign using the term ‘Outthink’.

The aim of the campaign was to promote consulting services to help businesses gain a competitive edge.

As part of this campaign IBM took out an eight-page advert in US newspaper the Wall Street Journal and “flooded the marketplace” with the prominent use of Outthink’s marks.

Several YouTube videos and screenshots of IBM’s website have also been included in the complaint, filed on February 3.

The complaint added that in January this year IBM announced its intention to buy a US marketing agency called Resource/Ammirati.

“Outthink and defendant both offer consulting services relating to marketing … to help their customers gain a competitive advantage in business,” the complaint said.

Outthink is seeking an injunction preventing IBM from using the marks any further as well as recovering all the profits generated from their use.