Townsquare Sues Groupon Over Alleged 'Seize The Deal' Trademark Infringement

Plaintiff

TOWNSQUARE MEDIA's TOWNSQUARE COMMERCE, LLC is suing GROUPON for trademark infringement and unfair competition over GROUPON's alleged use of TOWNSQUARE's "SEIZE THE DEAL" trademark.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of TEXAS, DALLAS Division, alleges that GROUPON used the "SEIZE THE DEAL" trademark "no less than 49 times in the publicly searchable code" of the GROUPON website, making it pop up "prominently" in GOOGLE searches of the phrase.

The suit says that GROUPON SVP/Corporate Development and Strategy JASON HARINSTEIN approached TOWNSQUARE about a possible partnership in APRIL 2014, and GROUPON then considered buying TOWNSQUARE COMMERCE and obtained confidential information about the business, then, when the deal fell apart, GROUPON started a "SEIZE THE DEAL" campaign.

After TOWNSQUARE sent a cease-and-desist letter, GROUPON ended the promotion and said it "considered the matter resolved," but then launched a new version with the same name on MAY 27th of this year.  TOWNSQUARE is seeking a declaratory judgment, permanent injunction, and damages under the LANHAM Act and TEXAS law.

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