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ARTICLE · 10 AUGUST 2015

Stites & Harbison Representing Pixels.com In Suit Against Instagram For Antitrust Violations

Stites & Harbison PLLC
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Pixels.com claims that the world's largest photo-sharing site is using its Instagram trademark to stifle fair competition.

United StatesIntellectual Property
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Pixels.com claims that the world's largest photo-sharing site is using its Instagram trademark to stifle fair competition.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (August 10, 2015)—On Thursday, August 6, 2015, Pixels.com, LLC sued Instagram, LLC in federal court in San Francisco asking the court to find that the Instaprints trademark does not infringe the Instagram trademark and to award damages and attorneys' fees as a result of Instagram's unlawful use of its trademark in violation of antitrust laws.

In June 2012, when Pixels.com adopted the Instaprints mark, Instagram was a company with fewer than 20 employees that encouraged developers to use its platform to create and market applications that would drive traffic to the small start-up.  Pixels asserts that it relied on Instagram's terms of use in place in 2012 when it adopted its Instaprints mark, which is used with online print-on-demand services, and maintains that its mark is not confusingly similar to Instagram.

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