Plaintiffs claim defendant licenses this and other photos containing
tree designs that are confusingly similar to their own.
On Nov. 9, Car-Freshner Corp. and Julius Samann Ltd. (JSL) filed suit in the Northern District of New York against Seattle’s Getty Images, Inc., for trademark infringement. Car-Freshner claims it licenses various trademarks from JSL, including a number of registered tree designs in connection with “absorbent body impregnated with a perfumed air deodorant,” “cleaning products,” and “air fresheners.”
Plaintiffs claim they learned that “Defendant was promoting and licensing digital media for commercial use through the Getty Images Web Site that included one or more tree designs which are identical to, virtually indistinguishable from and/or confusingly similar to Plaintiffs’ distinctive Tree design Marks.” This, plaintiffs claim, constitutes trademark infringement, unfair competition, and dilution.
Getty Images has not yet answered plaintiffs’ complaint.
The case cite is Car-Freshner Corp. v. Getty Images, Inc., No. 09-1252 (N.D.N.Y.).