October 18, 2011 Laserfiche Issues a Statement on the Conclusion of Run SmarterĀ® Trademark Litigation with SAP
2 min read
āFor almost a full calendar year, Laserfiche stood toe-to-toe against SAP America, Inc., SAP AG and SAP Global Marketing, to protect our Run SmarterĀ® trademark from reverse confusion in the market. The federally registered trademark has been the centerpiece of Laserfiche marketing campaigns since 2004 and is a valuable asset of Laserfiche.
In October 2010, SAP worked with Ogilvy and Mather to launch a new branding campaign centered on the phrase āRun Better.ā Various āRunā phrases ā āRun Vroomier,ā āRun Brainier,ā āRun Yummierā ā showed how companies run better with SAP. The issue was that one of the prominent phrases used in these ads was āRun Smarter.ā As soon as we became aware of their improper use of our trademark, we contacted SAP to ask that they stop using our trademark Run SmarterĀ® to avoid confusion in the market.
Our attempts to reach SAP and demand that they stop using our trademark were left unanswered and unaddressed. SAP filled TV, print and online channels with ads. Run SmarterĀ®, the trademark that has been at the core of our marketing strategy for over six years, was being swallowed up through SAPās market saturation, creating a likelihood of reverse confusion that Run SmarterĀ® somehow belonged to SAP.
What made the unlicensed use of Laserficheās Run SmarterĀ® trademark even more damaging to Laserfiche is the overlap in our businesses. At the core of Laserficheās products and services is our Run SmarterĀ® philosophy that helps us create simple and elegant enterprise content management (ECM) solutions used by more than 30,000 organizations worldwideāincluding federal, state and local government agencies and Fortune 1000 companies. SAP specializes in enterprise software, which includes its enterprise content management (ECM) solutions. This overlap made the possible confusion created by SAPās use of āRun Smarterā even more damaging to marketing efforts that we had been investing in for over six years.
Laserfiche could not sit idly by as the Run SmarterĀ® trademark that we had worked so hard to buildāthe trademark that communicates our brandās unique valueāwas pulled out from underneath us by pure market saturation from SAP. So we were forced to take the complaint to court.
Laserfiche fought a long eleven-month battle to defend our rights which involved producing over 500,000 documents to help prove our case. September 9, 2011ā11 days before the lawsuit was scheduled to go to trialāit was settled. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but we can state that the Parties settled the Action amicably and that the settlement involved a license of Compulinkās trademark for āRun Smarter.ā
Today we can stand tall knowing that we fought for our right to our trademark, and protected an important asset to our brand.ā
About Laserfiche
Since 1987, Laserfiche has used its Run SmarterĀ® philosophy to create simple and elegant enterprise content management (ECM) solutions. More than 30,000 organizations worldwide use LaserficheĀ® software to streamline document, records and business process management.
The Laserfiche ECM system is designed to give IT managers central control over their information infrastructure while still offering business units the flexibility to react quickly to changing conditions. The Laserfiche product suite is built on top of MicrosoftĀ® technologies to simplify system administration, supports the Microsoft SQL platform and features a seamless integration with Microsoft OfficeĀ® applications and a two-way integration with SharePointĀ®.
LaserficheĀ®, Run SmarterĀ® and CompulinkĀ® are registered trademarks of Compulink Management Center, Inc.