NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — Laboratory management information system provider LabLynx has sued Accelrys for trademark counterfeiting, trademark infringement, and domain name cyberpiracy, among other things, according to recently filed court documents.
In a complaint filed with the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, LabLynx, based in Smyrna, Ga., said that in 2010 it created an online community for the scientific, laboratory, and healthcare fields at the URL www.scicloud.net. Members of the site can exchange ideas, promote their services, collaborate on projects, and share applications through the site, LabLynx said.
The company also owns US Trademark Registration 4,201,907, issued on Sept. 4, 2012, and covering the scicloud.net mark and logo.
LabLynx alleges that Accelrys is currently using the mark "Sciencecloud" in the US to identify its information management and collaboration workspace offered as software-as-a-service, and advertises and promotes these services at the website www.sciencecloud.com. Accelrys' services are "advertised and sold to members of the laboratory and scientific communities … allow members to collaborate and share data … and are marketed and sold to the same category of consumers" as LabLynx's scicloud.net services, LabLynx alleges in its complaint.
Further, LabLynx alleges that Accelrys began using "Sciencecloud" as a mark subsequent to Jan. 24, 2012, the filing date of the application resulting in LabLynx's scicloud.net registration. It also said that on Feb. 20 of this year it sent Accelrys a letter informing it of the registered "Scicloud" marks and informing Accelrys that it was infringing LabLynx's trademark rights by using the "Sciencecloud" mark.
As such, LabLynx is suing Accelrys for use of a counterfeit mark; infringement of a registered trademark; federal unfair competition; common law trademark infringement and unfair competition; violation of the Georgia Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act; and violation of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
LabLynx is asking the court to preliminarily and permanently enjoin and restrain Accelrys from offering or providing services under the "Sciencecloud" mark, "or any other designation, trademark, or service mark that is likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception as to the source or sponsorship of [Accelrys'] services."
LabLynx is also requesting that the sciencecloud.com domain name be transferred to LabLynx, and it is seeking monetary compensation comprising profits received by Accelrys under the "Sciencecloud" mark in the US; damages proven at trial related to the alleged trademark infringement and unfair competition; and statutory damages. LabLynx is also requesting that any profits or damages assessed against Accelrys be trebled.