In December of 2011 Chinese electronics manufacturer Signeo, the manufacturer of Soul by Ludacris headphones filed suit against new action headphone company SOL Republic claiming trademark infringement.
According to SOL Republic, Signeo has gone even farther and tried to obtain an injunction against the company saying that SOL Republic named their company specifically to confuse people.
In response SOL Republic says they did nothing of the sort:
We founded SOL REPUBLIC because we love music and how it positively effects our lives. . . We committed ourselves to make great sound more affordable for everyone. . . We like Ludacris. We like his music and we are truly friends. We have nothing against him. . . We don’t like the practices of Signeo, which licensed Ludacris’s name, nor of its President Bob Bonefant. . . We don’t like their attempt to intimidate our company and the really great people in it. . . We don’t like their army of lawyers from multiple law firms who are trying to get a judge to shut us down.
Headphones are apparently big business. For the rest of the SOL Republic statement, follow the jump.OFFICIAL STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO SIGNEO USA. LLC v. SOL REPUBLIC, INC.
February 22, 2012
BACKGROUND In pending litigation filed December 16, 2011, Signeo* has claimed federal trademark infringement of its SOUL trademark based on SOL REPUBLIC’s use of its SOL REPUBLIC mark on headphones. In a recently filed attempt to obtain an injunction against SOL REPUBLIC, Signeo alleges confusion among customers between Soul by Ludacris and SOL REPUBLIC headphones and complains that SOL REPUBLIC was founded with the intent to disrupt Signeo’s Soul by Ludacris business. SOL REPUBLIC filed an answer denying these claims and asserted a number of affirmative defenses. SOL REPUBLIC has also filed its opposition to Signeo’s request for an injunction and today issued this statement:
WE ARE SOL REPUBLIC
WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED
We founded SOL REPUBLIC because we love music and how it positively effects our lives.
We committed ourselves to make great sound more affordable for everyone.
Signeo, a large corporation based in China, aims to stop us through an injunction based on false accusations.
They say their headphone brand, Soul by Ludacris, is why we named our company SOL REPUBLIC.
They say our headphones infringe on their name, and we must immediately stop shipping them.
We like Ludacris. We like his music and we are truly friends. We have nothing against him.
We don’t like the practices of Signeo, which licensed Ludacris’s name, nor of its President Bob Bonefant.
We don’t like their attempt to intimidate our company and the really great people in it.
We don’t like their army of lawyers from multiple law firms who are trying to get a judge to shut us down.
We are ready and willing to show you, a jury and a judge that…
We decided to call ourselves SOL REPUBLIC because we believe music is the Soundtrack Of Life and we wanted to symbolize our commitment to that.
We established our name, website, Facebook page and applied for a trademark well before we even knew about
Soul by Ludacris.
There’s no confusion in the eyes of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They approved our “SOL REPUBLIC” trademark as well as Signeo’s “Soul” trademark.
There’s no confusion with you, the public, even though Signeo and Mr. Bonefant claim that you are. We believe you are intelligent enough to know the difference.
We believe Signeo and Mr. Bonefant know that you are too, which is why they are trying to get an injunction before you and a jury have a chance to decide for yourselves.
We are willing to defend ourselves, our mission, and especially our name.
We are SOL REPUBLIC, ready to have our day in court and will not be silenced.
Hear it all at www.weareSOLREPUBLIC.com
About SOL REPUBLIC
SOL REPUBLIC is a global electronics company dedicated to enhancing people’s lives through better-sounding headphones. Comprised of music lovers, SOL REPUBLIC develops its products from the ground up to make the best headphones that look, sound and feel unlike anything else in the market. SOL REPUBLIC has offices in California, Oregon and New York City and is developing an army of followers, fans and dreamers in its worldwide social media communities. For more information, please visit www.solrepublic.com.
