Citigroup Sues AT&T For Saying 'Thanks' To Customers (techdirt.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Citigroup has a trademark on "THANKYOU" and is currently using it to sue ATT for using "Thanks." Ars Technica reports: "Who knew? Banking giant Citigroup has trademarked 'THANKYOU' and is now suing technology giant ATT for how it says thanks to its own loyal customers. This is 'unlawful conduct' amounting to wanton trademark infringement, Citigroup claims in its federal lawsuit." Citigroup doesn't appear to be gracious in its branding: Despite actual knowledge of Citigroup's substantial use of and exclusive rights in the THANKYOU Marks, Citigroup's use of the marks in connection with ATT co-branded credit cards, and Citigroup's concerns regarding ATT's proposed trademarks, ATT launched a customer loyalty program under the trademarks "thanks" and "ATT thanks" on or about June 2, 2016. ATT's use of the "thanks" and "ATT thanks" trademarks is likely to cause consumer confusion and constitutes trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and unfair competition in violation of Citigroup's rights. Citigroup therefore seeks to enjoin ATT's infringing conduct and to recover damages based on the injury ATT's conduct has caused to Citigroup as well as ATT's unjust enrichment. In April, ATT applied to trademark "ATT THANKS." Citigroup wants that trademark to be rejected because it thinks that proposed trademark is "confusingly similar to Citigroup's "THANKYOU Marks," according to its lawsuit.

Comments

I Love You

[Anonymous Coward]

Welcome to COSTCO, I Love You.

Idiocracy at its best!

Re:I Love You

[Yvan256]

I always wondered why they said "I love you", seemed weird to me.

Seeing stupid bullshit like being able to trademark "Thank you" does explain it all though.

United States of America, land of the lawsuits.

Re:I Love You

[arglebargle_xiv]

AT&T should just trademark "Fuck you", which is what they're really doing to customers. I don't think Citigroup would object, since their real motto, "Screw you", sounds substantially different.

Re:I Love You

[michelcolman]

They do have a point. You know, whenever someone says "thank you" to me, I always naturally assume that they are working for Citigroup. When it turns out they don't work for Citigroup and they were just saying it to be nice, it confuses the hell out of me. Could everyone please stop abusing registered trademarks like that? Thank you.

Re:I Love You

[Ivoch]

He makes a WHOOOSH thousand dollars.

This is quite possibly...

[Anonymous Coward]

The dumbest thing I've ever fucking seen. There are no words for the fact that we've gotten so low as to trademark appreciation. Not to mention the fact that these are two companies who, to the best of my knowledge, fuck their customers in the wallet in unconscionable ways with frequency.

Things like this are why people are against overuse of IP laws.

Best fucking CAPTCHA I've ever seen: truthful.

Re:This is quite possibly...

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait until they sue Kansas City, New York City and all the other infringers of the Citi trademark.

Say "Citigroup" instead of "Thank You"

[Hasaf]

I think I am going to give a shot at saying "Citigroup" instead of thank-you. Them , when people look at me with a dumfounded expression, I can explain that Citigoup has established ownership over the words "Thank You" and "thanks."

Citigroup for reading my silly idea.

Re:Say "Citigroup" instead of "Thank You"

[ZipK]

Citigroup for sharing.

Re:Say "Citigroup" instead of "Thank You"

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Citigroup's "Thank you" is a loyalty rewards service. AT&T's "Thank you" is also a loyalty rewards service. It'd be like Wendy's offering a Super Size menu. The article even says as much but since the dipshit that wrote it went off on a knee-jerk reaction you've been mislead to believe that it's about usage of the simple phrase.

This is not the site to go to if you want informed news on patents, trademarks, or copyrights. Hell, half the commenters on this site think Apple owns anything with a rounded corner.

Re:Say "Citigroup" instead of "Thank You"

[amiga3D]

It's "Thanks." I mean fuck man, it's "Thanks." I get what you're saying but it's about one of the most common terms in the English language. This entire thing is beyond fucked up. It makes me want to hate them for their arrogance in claiming the word "Thanks." I already hate Citigroup anyway but I used to hate AT&T more. Now they've moved ahead on the shitty fucking corporation list.

Re:Say "Citigroup" instead of "Thank You"

[I'm New Around Here]

No, they didn't claim the word thanks, they claimed a loyalty reward program called "Thank you". If you're mad about this then you've been mad at Google over their trademark of "Android" for a long time now.

No, they claimed a loyalty reward program called "THANKYOU". Not "Thank you", and certainly not "Thanks", and most certainly not "ATT Thanks". Those are all different. Whether they are too similar is apparently up to a judge/jury.

Re:Say "Citigroup" instead of "Thank You"

[AmiMoJo]

I first encountered Citygroup in Japan, where it's pronounced "shitty group".

Clickbait title

[fearofdecaf]

Citigroup are suing AT&T for marketing a rewards program based on the word "Thanks" because they have a registered trademark for a rewards program using "Thankyou" marks. This has nothing today with anyone 'saying thanks'.

No story here. Go about your business.

Re:Clickbait title

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Citigroup are suing AT&T for marketing a rewards program based on the word "Thanks" because they have a registered trademark for a rewards program using "Thankyou" marks. This has nothing today with anyone 'saying thanks'.

No story here. Go about your business.

This is not off-topic. This is exactly what the article says! Here's a quote from the article:

Despite actual knowledge of Citigroupâ(TM)s substantial use of and exclusive rights in the THANKYOU Marks, Citigroupâ(TM)s use of the marks in connection with AT&T co-branded credit cards, and Citigroupâ(TM)s concerns regarding AT&Tâ(TM)s proposed trademarks, AT&T launched a customer loyalty program under the trademarks âoethanksâ and âoeAT&T thanksâ on or about June 2, 2016.

That's a pretty important detail to leave out of the summary! Somebody please fix the parent's moderation.

Re:Clickbait title

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm going to trademark â & âoe and charge $10 each time a miss-configured news site uses it.

In Related News...

[Anonymous Coward]

Comcast is just waiting for someone to infringe on their "Fuck You" to customers trademark.

Citibank or AT&T?

[theskipper]

Even the devil is having trouble picking sides on this one. Mainly because it would mean favoring one child over the other.

Re:Citibank or AT&T?

[Yvan256]

We're very sorry, but we trademarked the word sorry decades ago.

Signed,
Canada.

This CAN'T be serious

[raymorris]

I can only think this has to be a joke. Trademarks don't work that way.

Someone tell me I've been on a huge practical joke TV show and this isn't real, we're not really choosing between a reality TV personality vs a felon for president, and Disney World doesn't really have alligators eating their guests.

Fire the Trademark Bureau

[kenwd0elq]

Any government bureaucrat who had ANY involvement, however slight, in approving a trademark for "THANKYOU" should be fired.

Customer confusion

[Livius]

ATT's use of the "thanks" and "ATT thanks" trademarks is likely to cause consumer confusion

It's true, people are surprised and confused to hear the word "thanks" coming from either of those corporations.

The trademark just sailed through examination.

[Steve1952]

I looked this up at the USPTO trademark site. It is registered trademark 3249982. Usually, a trademark examiner who is say...awake, would immediately reject the application on the basis that "THANKYOU" is "generic". Not here. The examiner just gave an initial "thumbs up" with no objection, and the rest is history. Amazing.

Re:Thank you for being a friend

[slashrio]

And that from an anonymous cow-ard...