US giant Uber in dispute with organic shop from Ostsee-Ort: "For us, that could mean bankruptcy"
Created: 2022-11-04 04:49
By: Stella Henrich
The US giant Uber Technologies and its lawyer are calling on a small organic shop in Greifswald to rebrand.
San Francisco/Greifswald - There are many quarrels on the Internet.
It is not only fake news that excites the minds of Internet surfers.
Sometimes there are also copyrights of images, sometimes duplicated text passages without naming the source.
There should also be website operators who have nothing else to do than look for violations on private websites in order to drag unsuspecting users before the judge.
Many a dispute between Goliath and David has been sparked and ended up in court.
At least that's how the current dispute from Greifswald reads.
Esther and Philippe run a small organic shop called Uver in Greifswald.
All products are unpackaged, customers bring their own containers to fill.
According to a report by
Bild
, the two students from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have been dealing with environmental protection and waste prevention for some time.
It's something close to the hearts of both of them.
Now the two young entrepreneurs received mail from the American west coast – from no less a company than the global corporation Uber Technologies based in San Francisco.
The group's lawyer accuses Esther and Philippe of
trademark infringement
.
The letter reads as follows:
As you are certainly aware, our client is the owner of various trademark rights to the designation UBER.
In particular for goods and various services in the field of passenger and food transport and transport and related goods and services.
Quote from the lawyer's letter to the Greifswalder (Source: Bild.de)
Dispute "David against Goliath": Uber lawyer demands rebranding
On behalf of Uber Technologies, the lawyer is demanding a so-called "rebranding" and the immediate complete deletion of the organic shop's trademark registration in order to prevent any risk of confusion with his client.
According to the lawyer, the "UVER" sign can be confused with the Uber brand, both visually and phonetically,
Bild
quotes an excerpt of the lawyer's letter.
About the global corporation Uber:
Uber is an American service company based in San Francisco.
It offers online intermediation services for passenger transport
in many cities around the world
.
In Germany, Uber only arranges trips to licensed rental car companies.
The company has been fighting its “battered” image for a long time.
In an interview with Merkur.de, Uber Germany boss Christoph Weigler talks about the future of mobility in Germany, international expansion, allegations of sexism and discrimination in the company and the resignation of company founder Travis Kalanick.
Taxis can also be booked with the Uber app.
(Iconic image) © Dave Hunt / picture alliance / dpa
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"We can hardly afford a lawyer, let alone a rebranding," said operator Philippe of the
picture
.
"For us and for the unpackaged vision in the region, this could mean bankruptcy."
According to information from the tabloid, an agreement with the two people from Greifswald is being sought.
But what could it look like?
In any case, Facebook is now recommending a law firm for trademark law to organic shop operators.
Start-up founder Philippe and his business partner hope that the Americans will keep their shop alive.