The ADT Corporation, America’s largest provider of home security systems, recently lost a legal battle against Alarm Protection Technology LLC, a competitor, in a case regarding alleged deceptive trade practices and acronym confusion. Gunster attorneys Mike Marcil and Jennifer Nicole represented APT in the case. A federal jury in West Palm Beach decided the acronym of APT, a Salt Lake City-based company, does not cause confusion with ADT LLC, a publicly traded company based in South Florida.
Marcil, chair of Gunster's business litigation practice, told DBR, “This was a case about a big corporation bullying the little guy trying to freely compete in the market.”
Additionally, ADT sought $27 million in damages for “alleged profits APT made from poached customers.” The jury did not find APT guilty of making misleading representations to the South Florida customers of ADT to get them to switch home security companies.
Read the article: West Palm jury rejects ADT’s acronym confusion claim (Daily Business Review, 2/26/15 - subscription required)
