Information Design (BID) filed suit in a circuit court in the state of Missouri accusing Microsoft of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and “tortious interference with business expectancy.”<\/p>\n
“For nearly ten years my client has been using the Bing! mark,” attorney Anthony Simon said in a release.<\/p>\n
“Microsoft’s use of the identical mark and its aggressive advertising have gutted all of my client’s efforts to distinguish its business and created confusion that must be remedied.”<\/p>\n
Microsoft told AFP on Thursday that it had yet to see a copy of the lawsuit but that the argument is specious.<\/p>\n
“We have not been served with a complaint, but are aware of the suit based on media reports,” Microsoft spokesman Kevin Kutz said in an email response to an AFP inquiry.<\/p>\n
“We believe this suit to be without merit and we do not believe there is any confusion in the marketplace with regard to the complainant’s offerings and Microsoft’s Bing.”<\/p>\n
He added that Microsoft is looking forward to defending its position in court.<\/p>\n
BID creates interactive illustrations, designs, graphics, animations, and technical diagrams, according to Simon.<\/p>\n
A BID website on Thursday featured sports stories and quizzes localized for St. Louis, the city where the company is based.<\/p>\n
Microsoft rolled out its new Bing search engine worldwide in June in a challenge to Internet powerhouse Google.<\/p>\n
Microsoft entered into a 10-year Web search and advertising partnership with Yahoo! in July that set the stage for a joint offensive against Google.<\/p>\n
Microsoft has also begun integrating messages from hot micro-blogging service Twitter into Bing and plans to do the same with status updates from Facebook.<\/p>\n