Credit Union Sues Bank Over Similar Name
US Banker | May, 2010
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FeedbackA showdown is brewing in Michigan between a credit union and a bank with similar names.
With its recent purchase of a failed bank through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., First Michigan Bancorp in Troy entered markets where Michigan First Credit Union in Lathrup Village already operates. Now the credit union is suing for trademark infringement in federal court.
Three of the 22 branches that First Michigan took over from the failed Citizens First Bank in Port Huron are within 10 miles of one of the credit union’s branches. One other First Michigan branch also is within 10 miles of a credit union branch.
The $550 million-asset credit union claims the bank name is too similar to the Michigan First one it has used since 2001 and the trademark it registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. “As a result of Michigan First’s extensive use and promotion of the Michigan First marks, these marks have come to be associated in the public mind with credit union, banking and other financial services offered and sold by Michigan First,” says the lawsuit.
The credit union contends the First Michigan Bank name “creates a likelihood of public confusion.”
Credit union representatives did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment. Bank executives declined to comment.
The credit union says in its suit that the bank adopted its current name in August 2008 in conscious disregard of the trademark rights. The credit union says it never authorized First Michigan to use that name.
The credit union is seeking to force the bank to cease and desist from all use of the First Michigan name or any other confusingly similar name. It is also seeking recovery of damages allegedly suffered as a result of the bank's purportedly wrongful acts.
— Credit Union Journal Daily Briefing
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