Spotify wins lawsuit against ‘Potify’

Spotify has won a trademark dispute against a cannabis software company in the US, called Potify.

The US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled in Spotify’s favour. Potify is an online platform for legal cannabis dispensaries to market and sell products. 

The Potify platform is run by US Software Inc. and was set up in 2017. The CEO of Potify Gusein Suleimanov said:

“Coming up with the name Potify, he did not think of Spotify or anything associated with Spotify – the Spotify name did not come to mind when developing the name.”

The judges’ didn’t believe the Potify CEO’s explanation. The judge said:

“There is no question that Spotify is as famous as marks come, that Spotify goods and services are widely used and recognized by a large percentage of the United States population, or that opposer’s Spotify mark is highly distinctive. This was the case before the applicant’s claimed date of first use of its mark,” 

The Potify CEO argued if he was likely to be influenced by anyone it was Shopify over Spotify. His legal representative Kevin Davies then went on to question other trademarks using the -otify suffix, saying:

“If Potify cannot be registered, then other marks ending in ‘otify’ – like Clotify, Votify, Notify, and Plotify – shouldn’t be registered either,” 

Each of those marks is registered. 

“The board’s decision was based on the ‘fame’ of the Spotify brand, which resulted in an overly broad protection of their brand.”

The streaming giant argues the Potify brand is “diluting” its brand by association and “blurring and tarnishing” it. 

The dispute was originally triggered by US Sotftware Inc. making an application to trademark the Potify brand.