What’s in a Name? A Lot, According to Safelite

Safelite Auto Glass has sued an auto glass company with a name one letter different from its own. The national brand has accused Wisconsin-based Safelife Auto Glass of trademark infringement.

According to the legal complaint Safelite filed on March 25, former Safelite employee Obed Alarquan registered Safelife Auto Glass as a limited liability company while still working for Safelite. Alarquan also allegedly registered the URL www.sl-autoglass.com while a Safelite employee.

According to its website, Safelife operates in Wisconsin and Chicago. Safelite alleges that Safelife used a similar name and similar branding to appeal to potential Safelite customers in that area.

In its legal complaint, Safelite Auto Glass included side-by-side comparisons of its branding versus Safelife Auto Glass branding.

“[Safelife’s] actions have caused, and are causing, Safelite to suffer irreparable harm (including loss of goodwill and brand control), lost sales (including in Illinois and elsewhere), and a blurring and tarnishment of the famous [Safelite trademarks],” the complaint claims.

Safelite sued Safelife for trademark infringement, unfair competition, trademark dilution and related Illinois state laws. Safelite also claims Safelife’s website URL is “confusingly similar to” its own branding, violating the anti-cybersquatting consumer protection act.

Safelite asked the court to ban Safelife from affiliating itself with the Ohio-based company or using its name and branding or any similar name and branding. Safelife would also have to transfer the www.sl-autoglass.com domain name to Safelite.

Safelite demands three times either Safelife’s profits or Safelite’s damages (depending on which is greater), attorney fees, money “for Safelite to secure corrective advertising to remedy the consumer confusion that [Safelife] caused,” $100,000 in statutory damages and both pre- and post-judgment interest.

According to legal records, the case was assigned to Judge Jeffrey Cummings of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division on March 25. Safelite executed summons to Safelife and Alarquan, but the case has not yet gone to trial.