Wex, a global payment processing company based in Portland, is suing Hewlett Packard for copyright infringement over a new product the information technology company is launching called WEX.
The federal complaint filed Thursday says HP announced the launch of its “Workforce Experience Platform” — or WEX — a fleet management software tool that has features similar to those offered by Wex.
Both companies aim to provide businesses with innovative solutions to everyday workforce problems, and both promote their software as customer-centric, providing data, helping fleet management, increasing productivity, leveraging AI and reducing friction, Wex said in a press release. .
Wex said in the lawsuit that HP’s new platform also targets similar industries, including auto companies, financial institutions, major oil companies and even federal and state governments — including the state of Maine, which has contracts with both companies.
Wex said HP’s use of the WEX acronym will create confusion in the marketplace, either leading consumers to believe the two companies are partners, that HP has acquired Wex, or simply causing users to confuse the two.
According to the lawsuit, this has already happened in the financial media, even though HP has not yet launched its platform.
“Wex is bringing this action to protect consumers, businesses and investors from being defrauded by HP’s theft of the Wex name and attempts to take the reputation and goodwill that Wex has built up over decades of hard work,” the company said in a court filing.
Jessica Roy, vice president of financial communications at Wex, said in a statement that the lawsuit is an attempt to protect the company’s brand.
Wex said he tried to resolve the dispute directly with HP, but that the tech company was unwilling to change course. Wex is seeking a preliminary injunction to force HP to stop infringing on the WEX trademark.
“HP could have chosen from almost limitless alternatives instead of alienating the arbitrary WEX trademark. HP’s decision—whether with knowledge of Wex’s trademark rights, or in inexcusable ignorance of Wex’s many uncontested trademark registrations—is an unacceptable attempt by HP to use Wex’s legacy of customer trust as a way to keep pace with its Silicon Valley competitors, ” the lawsuit says. “Any bad news about HP—like the many negative comments on its social media accounts, @hp on Instagram, or a potential data breach—would be devastatingly and unfairly associated with Wex.”
The company said HP also wants to protect the standalone word “WEX.”
Maine-based Wex has been using that name since 1989, when it was still known as Wright Express Corporation and was officially renamed WEX in 2012.
Wrong username / password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you email your account, we’ll email you a cancellation code.
” Previous
The Biden administration will require thousands more gun dealers to conduct background checks
Related stories
