Search engine GoTo.com Thursday filed a
complaint in a California federal court against Walt Disney Co. and Infoseek Corp. over the logo the two
companies are using to market their recently launched GO Network.
GoTo.com is alleging Disney and Infoseek have violated federal trademark
law and are asking a federal court to force the companies to discontinue
use of the Go Network logo. GoTo.com says the similarity between
its logo and the one used to market the Go Network will likely cause
confusion.
Jeffrey Brewer, GoTo.com’s president and chief executive officer, said
Disney and Infoseek’s marketing campaign is diluting its brand awareness
efforts.
“Although GoTo.com is a small company without the financial might of a
company like Disney, we’ve invested millions of dollars and thousands of
hours throughout the past year to get our trademark in front of consumers
and to build brand awareness.
“Having built a strong client base of more than 5,000 advertisers who rely
on the continued success of the brand, it goes without saying that we are
committed to protecting the brand on behalf of these advertisers, many of
whom are little guys like ourselves,” he said.
Brewer said he has discussed the matter with Disney and Infoseek officials,
hoping to avoid a legal dispute. However, those efforts have so far proven
unsuccessful.
“The last thing we want to do is be involved in a legal battle with an
800-pound gorilla. Since the launch of the Go Network, we have had several
meaningful and sincere discussions with Disney and Infoseek in order to
find a solution… Unfortunately, we have not been able to arrive at such a
solution in an appropriate timeframe. The only course of action left to us
at this point is to pursue legal recourse…,”he said.
Disney spokesperson Rebecca Anderson said the company has only seen the news release and not the formal complaint. She said Disney believes Brewer’s claims are baseless.
“Disney has secured the rights to the Go Network logo and we will vigorously defend those rights,” she said.