Photo / Courtesy of WEX
Sara Trickett
Updated: July 11, 2024
WEX wins interim ruling in trademark case against California tech giant
File Photo / Tim Greenway
WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) has obtained a preliminary injunction to stop HP Inc. from using the "WEX" name, which the Portland company says is a trademark infringement.
WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX), the Portland-based financial technology provider, has won an interim ruling in its trademark infringement case against HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ).
The lawsuit, filed in April, claims that HP has illegally used the WEX name in a new digital platform enabled by artificial intelligence. HP calls the technology the "Workplace Experience Platform," branded as "WEX."
HP, formerly known as Hewlett-Packard and based in Palo Alto, Calif., has a market value of around $35 billion. WEX is valued at $7.4 billion.
WEX’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, argues that HP's use of the WEX name “will cause irreparable harm to WEX and deceive consumers.”
A day after filing its suit on April 11, WEX requested a preliminary injunction to stop HP from using "WEX" in the platform name. HP argued that it does not offer any of the products or services offered by WEX, nor does it consider WEX a competitor.
In Tuesday's 84–page ruling, Judge John A. Woodcock Jr, sided with WEX, ordering HP not to use or display “WEX” or any confusingly similar trademark or logo in connection with the promotion or sale of software products designed to simplify internal business and management logistics.
The order notes that WEX is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that HP’s conduct infringed WEX’s trademarks “because the marks at issue are nearly identical, the products are similar, the parties use the same marketing terms to promote the products, the plaintiff’s marks are strong, and the plaintiff has put forth convincing evidence of actual confusion.”
“Taken together, the evidence favoring WEX is overwhelming, while the evidence favoring HP is slight,” the judge said in the order. “Accordingly, the Court concludes that WEX is likely to succeed on the merits in this case because it has demonstrated that consumers are likely to be confused by the launch and promotion of HP WEX.”
'Protecting the brand'
Sara Trickett, chief legal officer at WEX, applauded Tuesday's ruling.
"We are pleased that the Court recognized that HP’s use of the 'WEX' name would inevitably cause confusion in the marketplace, and put a stop to HP’s infringing conduct,” she said.
“WEX is committed to protecting the WEX brand and our customers from the confusion caused by HP’s actions. We look forward to obtaining a permanent injunction at trial.”
HP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WEX Inc. is represented in the case by Megan Bannigan, David Bernstein, Christopher Ford, Nicole Flores, and Kendra Berry of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, a New York-based law firm, and Gavin McCarthy and Nolan Reichl of Portland law firm Pierce Atwood LLP.
Led by CEO Melissa Smith, WEX in April posted first-quarter results in April that fell short of market expectations. The company also announced plans to cut around 70 jobs from its 7,200-person global workforce, and raised its full-year financial outlook.
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