Calgary business not impressed with Walmart response

After a retail giant responded to the infringement claims made by a Calgary clothing store, the store owners say the response was “disappointing,” leading them to question trademark rights in Canada.
Local Laundry started by Dustin Paisley and Connor Curran, features the CAN Collection with a logo design containing the letters C-A-N within an X, and a maple leaf in the bottom middle. Its YYC Collection carries a similar design, but Y-Y-C instead.
The design was then trademarked to protect their intellectual property, and they have been selling clothing with the design since 2016.
Curran tells CityNews a customer informed them a similar design was spotted inside a Walmart store back in March.
Read More: Trademark troubles: Calgary business sees similar design in big box stores
The design features a different font of the letters as one difference, and a moose replacing the maple leaf as another.
“After seeing the marketing person and seeing the confusing similarities, we reached out to Walmart, called multiple times, and eventually filled out an infringement file form on their website,” Curran explains.
“Their legal team told us that they did not believe they’re infringing on our trademark and decided to keep on selling it. And then they continue to sell it for a couple of months.”
But after the owners released a video on social media, he says most of the public comments agreed the logo was similar and “confusing.”
And along with attention from media outlets, including CityNews, Walmart Canada released a statement saying they would be dropping the design, but also not admitting to any wrongdoing.
“We respect the intellectual property rights of others and take allegations of this nature seriously,” Stephanie Fusco, Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs, said. “We can confirm that we were in touch with Local Laundry earlier this year to discuss their concerns.
“Despite our position that we have not infringed Local Laundry’s intellectual property rights, we have decided to move away from this design for future collections.”
Watch: Walmart responds to trademark infringement claim by Calgary company
Curran says the response was “disappointing,” and that they “feel failed by the system.”
“We did everything right. We’re a small business, we spent thousands and thousands of dollars in legal fees to get this mark registered as a Canadian trademark. It took us three years, we did everything right, we jumped through all the loopholes,” he said.
“We did everything, everything we could, and to see large corporations do something like this, it’s incredibly disappointing.”
He says they are exploring their legal options and that “nothing is off the table,” as the logo has been sold in their stores since March, so they believe there has been damage and confusion in the market.
Small businesses struggle with trademark laws in Canada
Amid the frustration with their claims of infringement, Curran, who is also on the board of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, says other businesses in the city have shared similar stories, and now feels that Local Laundry has to set an example for other small businesses to “stand up.”
“At first we felt helpless, and we weren’t going to do anything about it. When they told us that they were gonna continue selling. We weren’t going to do anything because we felt helpless. And what can we do? You know, we’re small businesses, they’re giant corporations,” Curran explained.
“We felt it was our duty, as a small business, to commit to be an example for other small businesses that you have to stand up, and you have to fight for your intellectual property, for your rights over your trademark. And ultimately, we just feel really disappointed and really sad for all the other small businesses like us who have gone through similar situations.”
Watch: Calgary business fighting trademark battle
COVID-19 has hurt many small businesses in Calgary, including Local Laundry, according to Curran, saying the last two years have been stressful.
He says the incident and similar ones are a significant blow to small businesses in Canada. As he explains, the trademark system protects customers and large corporations but not small business owners.
-With files from Jillian Code
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