PayPal Sues Pandora Over Logo Similarities

(RTTNews) - Payments giant PayPal filed a lawsuit against music streaming company Pandora Media over alleged similarities in both companies' logos.

The trademark infringement lawsuit was filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking legal costs and unspecified damages. PayPal also called for Pandora to cease use of its current blue "P" logo, which is similar to that of PayPal.

In its filing, the online payment company argued that Pandora's minimalist logo "dilutes the distinctiveness" of its own branding.

The lawsuit alleged, "Element by element and in overall impression, the similarities between the logos are striking, obvious, and patently unlawful."

PayPal's logo, which was redesigned in 2014, features a minimalist-looking "P" in a sans serif font and sporting a blue color palette. PayPal's logo consists of two overlapping and slanted "Ps,", and lack a hole. The payments company registered its logo with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2014.

In late 2016, Pandora redesigned its logo into the current sans serifed "P" letter, with a softer shade of blue. It also lacks a hole.

PayPal alleged that customers of both companies are unable to distinguish the two, and that many are complaining about inadvertently opening Pandora instead of PayPal on their smartphones.

"Pandora's use of its infringing and diluting mark thus is causing and is likely to cause confusion as to whether Pandora's services originate from or are sponsored by PayPal, and as to whether there is an association or affiliation between Pandora and PayPal," the lawsuit stated.

According to PayPal, some consumers are even asking whether PayPal has purchased Pandora due to the logo similarities.

PayPal said that it has made attempts to resolve the logo issue amicably, but Pandora abruptly ended discussions noting that it did not acknowledge widespread consumer confusion. PayPal noted that Pandora was not willing to engage in future discussions.