Amazon Chime, a newly launched unified communication service (UC) that runs on Amazon Web Services is the subject of a trademark violations lawsuit filed this week in New York by a collaboration software company.
CafeX is suing Amazon.com over allegedly “blatantly infringing” the trademark of its collaboration software solution, also known as Chime. CafeX alleged in the lawsuit that Amazon.com knowingly named its UC platform Chime despite knowing about CafeX’s existing Chime product for a year.
CafeX launched Chime in February 2016, almost a year before Amazon.com launched its Chime-branded service. The product was presented at the UC-focused Enterprise Connect conference a month later, where it won an Award.
CafeX claims that AWS representatives were present at the conference. They would have been hard-pressed not to be aware of Chime’s existence, given CafeX’s extensive marketing efforts throughout. CafeX also claimed that an AWS principal product manger visited the CafeX booth.
CafeX stated in its filing that it is “essentially impossible” for AWS to not have known about CafeX’s CHIME product or service before launching its own product and/or service.
This is compounded by both “Chime”, products being enterprise collaboration platforms that offer voice, video, and Web conferencing capabilities. According to the suit, this has caused confusion among CafeX customers and partners who mistakenly believed that CafeX had collaborated with Amazon.com for the product.
The suit notes that Enterprise Connect is less than a month away and that CafeX and Amazon.com will promote their respective UC products at the event in booths that are only 30 feet apart. Amazon.com will also be giving a keynote speech at the conference.
AWS will be able saturate the market and overtake CafeX and its CHIME Trademarks if it is allowed to use the Infringing Marks at the upcoming Enterprise Connect tradeshow. The public will assume that CafeX’s CHIME branded products and services, or CafeX’s CHIME branded products, are actually AWS’s. CafeX will thus lose control of its goodwill, reputation, identity and the value its CHIME Trademarks to CafeX’s great und irreparable injury,” the suit claims.
CafeX is asking for a court order to prohibit Amazon.com’s use of the Chime name in connection with its UC platform.
Amazon Sued for Trademark Breach with “Chime”
