WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Florida-based supermarket chain Publix says another company's logo is too close to its own and is suing for trademark infringement.
According to a lawsuit filed in October, Publix says companies Pharmapacks and Packable Holdings are using a single-P mark that is "confusingly" similar to its federally registered single-P marks.
The lawsuit says Pharmapacks is an "enablement platform and retail seller" that markets and sells health and beauty products directly to consumers, including people who live in Florida. And, the company has claimed to be the largest third-party seller on Amazon, according to the lawsuit.
Publix claims in the suit Pharmapacks competes with Publix not only with its own website but through the use of other Publix competitors' websites such as Walmart, Amazon, Target and Kroger.
Because of the similarity in the single-P logos, Publix says people are likely to confuse the two companies. The lawsuit says a survey showed more than 45% of people thought the Pharmapacks logo was the Publix single-P mark, even if the Pharmapacks logo had the name and tagline included.
Participants said the "'P' was the same. Just different color;" "because the 'P' is the same on both logos;" and "they are the same," according to the suit.
Publix says it believes Pharmapacks knew about the supermarket's Single-P marks before it created its own logo.
As a result, the lawsuit is seeking a jury trial and recovering monetary damages.
Publix, founded in 1930 in Winter Haven, says the supermarket chain is the largest and fastest-growing employee-owned company in the U.S. Publix says 800 of its 1,250 stores are in Florida; the rest are in six other states across the Southeast.
Read the lawsuit here.
