IP Shareholder S. Lloyd Smith Talks Trademark War with the Washington Post and Other Media Outlets

A recent article in the Washington Post discusses how Major League Baseball is opposed to a green-and-white logo of WalletHub, a website run by Evolution Finance that assists consumers and small business in making better financial decisions. The MLB is concerned that people could confuse WalletHub’s logo for the Washington National’s.

Locked in trademark dispute, Evolution Finance sees MLB as a bully, using their deep pockets to "pressure smaller outfits into signing away trademark rights they should be entitled to the same as any other business," reports the article.

"It is common for trademark owners to sometimes overreach in protecting their marks," S. Lloyd Smith tells the publication as the representative for Evolution Finance. "They’re always concerned or cautious that if they don’t enforce their marks they might lose their rights."

"The real question is why does MLB care?" Smith says. "They don’t own the letter W. There’s lots of other Ws out there. They’re just plainly overreaching in this case."

He continues, "They’re a small business. Small businesses are never quite sure where they’re headed in the future. They don’t want to give away all their rights when there is realistically no chance of confusion."

The article was picked up in several other media outlets, including the Washington Business Journal. 

Read the full article – "Meet the Start-up in a Trademark War with the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs" (Washington Post, February 9, 2015)