Travelers Indemnity Company is demanding that a Poughkeepsie body shop remove the insurance giant”™s instantly recognizable red umbrella logo from a window display at the shop”™s entrance.
Travelers, a Fortune 500 company based in Hartford, Connecticut, accused Northside Auto Body of trademark infringement in a complaint filed June 1 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
Travelers claims that unauthorized use of its trademarked logo creates the false impression that Northside is affiliated with or endorsed by the insurer.
Northside did not reply to a message asking for its side of the story.
Travelers has been selling insurance for more than 160 years, according to the complaint, has used various trademarks for more than a century, and has used a version that combines its name and red umbrella since 2007.
It spends tens of millions of dollars annually promoting products under the trademarks on TV and websites, in newspapers and magazines, and with corporate sponsorships.
From 2011 to 2022, for instance, the trademarks have been seen on TV commercials 22 billion times. When viewers watch the PGA”™s Travelers Championship golf tournament, they see the bright red umbrella logo on tee markers, caddy bibs, guest tents and the winner”™s jacket.
Travelers also maintains a database of body shops that can handle repairs for its customer, according to the complaint. The shops agree to refrain from using the trademarks without the company”™s consent.
Northside advertises that it accepts estimates and policies from all major insurance companies, the complaint states. Beside the Travelers red umbrella, signs for Allstate, Geico, Kemper, Progressive and USAA are displayed on the plate glass window at the entrance.
But Northside, the complaint states, is not a Travelers authorized service provider.
Displaying the logo, the insurer argues, dilutes the trademark and could cause consumers to assume that Northside is part of it service network.
Travelers says there is no need to display the logo. Instead, Northside could identify Travelers in plain text as one of the insurance companies it can contact regarding auto repairs.
Travelers is asking the court to stop Northside from using its trademarks and representing itself as being associated with the insurer; direct the shop to destroy or remove the sign and any materials that use the trademark; order the shop to account for all profits arising from use of the trademark; and order the shop to pay unspecified treble damages and compensatory damages.
Travelers is represented by Manhattan attorney Thomas A. Martin and the Kelly IP law firm of Washington, D.C.
