Craigslist is being sued by a Texas real estate company First Call for trademark infringement, reports Mediapost.
First Call began to place ads on Craigslist in March. Soon after, its rival AAA Apartment Locating began posting ads using the key words "first call," "call first," and "call us first."
First Call says AAA is using those phrases to confuse customers, and has sued AAA and Craigslist. It holds Craigslist responsible because it says the company failed to stop AAA's ads despite being aware of the trademark infringement.
A State judge banned Craigslist and AAA from using "first call," and similar terms in their advertising, but the case has now been sent to a Federal Court. Mediapost says Craigslist might be able to avoid paying damages:
Federal law provides that some publishers are not liable for damages when they run paid ads with copy that infringes on trademark. Instead, trademark owners can only obtain injunctions banning publishers from running such ads in the future. But it's not clear whether that protection would apply in this case because Craigslist doesn't charge for real estate ads in Texas.
Image: Anne Cloudman
