What you need to know
- ADT has filed a lawsuit against Amazon's Ring brand for tricking consumers by using its blue octagon logo.
- ADT's complaint says Ring is "seeking to tout a reputation for trust to potential customers that it has not earned."
- The smart home security company is seeking a permanent injunction against the use of its iconic blue octagon logo.
ADT, which is known for making some of the best smart home security systems, has filed a lawsuit against Ring for "willful trademark infringement, unfair competition, and related violations." ADT has alleged that the Amazon brand adopted its blue octagon mark in March 2021 to promote the Ring Alarm Outdoor Siren. ADT is seeking a ban on Ring from using blue octagonal signs, along with monetary damages.
Trent Webb, co-chair, intellectual property practice group of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, counsel for ADT, said in a statement:
Great brands like ADT don't become universally recognized overnight. ADT's products, services, and reputation are built on a nearly 150-year history of innovation and reliability, and investment in its people and its products. Amazon's Ring continues to take shortcuts to build its brand—to build its company—through blatant and repeated theft of ADT's intellectual property.
Webb added:
ADT will protect its customers, its employees, its intellectual property, and its reputation. As such, we're asking the court for, among other relief, immediate and permanent injunction against the use of ADT's iconic blue octagon mark and for monetary and punitive damages.
This isn't the first time that ADT has accused Ring of attempting to steal its property. In 2017, ADT claimed Ring gained access to an unauthorized copy of a software platform, related trade secrets, and other assets. However, ADT was successful in preventing Ring from using the platform by filing a lawsuit in Delaware. The two companies settled the suit in early 2018, just weeks before Ring was acquired by Amazon for $1 billion.
