Is Samsung sued for using Milk Music name for its app?

Is Samsung sued for using Milk Music name for its app?

On November 25, 2014, Monday, Milk Studios filed a trademark infringement case in the United States against Samsung Electronics Co. Milk Studios is a photography and media company that Samsung Electronics Co. has partnered with many times in the past. The case was filed in the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York.

According to the lawsuit, Samsung has intentionally used the Milk name for their music-streaming services. According to them, Samsung is taking advantage of the cachet or the reputation of Milk Studios which is a 15-year-old multimedia studio based in New York and Los Angeles. Milk Studios is asking for an indefinite amount as damages for what it called trademark dilution and unfair competition.

Milk Studios started as photography venue and is used by designers like Tom Ford for fashion shows as well as for music recording, listening sessions, and video production by artists like Kanye West. Samsung declined to make a comment on the lawsuit. This is another headache for Samsung as it searches to expand its services and software to better compete with Google Inc. and Apple Inc.

In March, Milk Studios already asked Samsung to discontinue using the Milk trademark and the latter asked for time to think about the proposal. But in August, Samsung informed Milk Studios that they will not stop providing services under the Milk name. This lawsuit is actually far from the first that Samsung has faced.

It is Apple who started the great lawsuit in the United States in 2011 in almost 12 countries alleging Samsung of copying features from its iPhone which Samsung, has of course, denied.