IP Law Daily, TRADEMARK NEWS: Paint company sues Walmart over ‘Easy Chrome’ name, (Oct 11, 2023)

By Steven Melendez

Alsa alleges Walmart is using its brand name and “Easy Chrome” to target Google ads, infringing what it calls common-law trademarks.

Alsa Refinish, a paint company, sued Walmart in California federal court, alleging the retail giant is infringing its common-law trademark rights through its Google advertising and costing it millions of dollars in sales. The complaint in Alsa Refinish LLC v. Walmart Inc. was filed October 10, 2023, in the federal district court in Los Angeles.

Alsa founder Isaac Banoun has run California paint companies with the Alsa name since 1988, according to the complaint in the lawsuit. The company has been promoting paint with its brand name and the phrase “Easy Chrome” on YouTube since at least 2017, including on videos that have had millions of views, and it issued a press release in 2018 formally introducing its “Easy Chrome” line of paint in 2018, according to the complaint. Alsa additionally sells its paint with its brand name and the “Easy Chrome” name on its own website and via Amazon, according to the complaint. The company alleges its use of “Easy Chrome” and the brand name “Alsa” are enough to establish common law trademarks under California and federal law.

Beginning in 2019, Alsa “started to notice a decline in sales, so much so that today [Alsa’s] sales have declined a huge amount,” according to the complaint. And in September 2023, the company noticed that Walmart was advertising on Google, using the keywords “easy chrome paint” and “Alsa easy chrome.” Alsa claims that Walmart advertising with each of those phrases infringes Alsa’s trademark rights.

The company “has lost millions of dollars in sales, and may not be able to survive as a business,” according to the complaint. Alsa additionally alleges that Walmart’s “paint may be unreliable and unable to provide patrons with the same high-quality and professional quality they have come to expect” from Alsa’s products, and that consumers “have or will be deceived into believing it is the same ownership” as Alsa.

Alsa’s complaint includes claims for false designation of origin and unfair competition under the Lanham Act, unfair competition and false advertising under the California Business and Professions Code, and trademark infringement under California common law. The company seeks a declaration that it has a valid trademark, that Walmart has no rights in the mark, that Walmart infringed on the mark and must cease the use of it. It also asks the court to find that Walmart “must cease the use of all website and social media accounts connected with ‘Easy Chrome Paint’ or similar products.”

Alsa additionally seeks “all profits” derived from the alleged infringement, treble damages, costs and attorney fees.

The Case is No. 2:23-cv-08536.

Attorneys: Karthik K. Murthy (Murthy Patent Law Inc.) for Alsa Refinish LLC.

Companies: Alsa Refinish LLC; Walmart Inc.

News: Trademark CaliforniaNews