Pride Houston 365, a long-running organization that has planned parades and festivals honoring the LGBTQ+ population in the city, filed a trademark infringement action this week against a recently established nonprofit that has similar plans for the upcoming summer.
New Faces of Pride Houston is accused of trademark dilution and unfair competition by Pride Houston in a federal complaint that was filed in Houston on Wednesday. The latter organization was founded earlier this year, and the suit requests that a judge grant a temporary restraining order against it in addition to both temporary and permanent injunctions that would prohibit New Faces of Pride Houston from “marketing, advertising, soliciting donations, or offering for sale services.”
Pride Houston 365, a long-standing group that honors the LGBTQ+ community in the city with parades and festivals, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit this week against a newly founded nonprofit that has similar plans for the upcoming summer.
In a federal complaint filed in Houston on Wednesday, Pride Houston accuses New Faces of Pride Houston of trademark dilution and unfair competition. New Faces of Pride Houston was founded earlier this year. The suit asks a judge to grant a temporary restraining order against the latter organization as well as both temporary and permanent injunctions that would forbid it from “marketing, advertising, soliciting donations, or offering for sale services.”
According to court documents, a hearing regarding the requested temporary restraining order is set for Monday at noon.
In an email on Thursday, Bryan Cotton, the president and creator of New Faces of Pride Houston, stated that “there is no monopoly on Pride celebrations.”
He also mentioned that Pride Houston attorney Erik Osterrieder and Lori Hood, who is on the advisory board for the new organization, had agreed “weeks ago” to meet to “discuss any trademark issues.” Cotton claims that scheduling conflicts have prevented such a meeting from occurring, and he would have preferred that the lawyers examine the issue prior to filing a lawsuit.
Cotton declared, “Lawsuits do nothing but divide our community.” “New Faces of Pride, LLC in Houston would have rather used its time and resources raising critical funds for the LGBTQ+ community rather than spending time in court.”
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