| Name Blame
Small firm settles lawsuit and drops ‘American Century’ name February 1, 2005 By PATRICK CROWLEY |
| A small mortgage company doing battle with an investment firm that manages more than $90 billion in assets has agreed to relinquish its name.American Century Mortgage Corp., which is located in the Kansas City area, has agreed to change its name to settle a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by a large mutual fund company that has a similar name — American Century Investments.
“American Century (Investments) is very, very large, and our client is just a small company,” Kansas City lawyer Bruce Day, who represented the mortgage firm, told MortgageDaily.com. “It was relatively easy to change the name and just avoid the problems…and expense of being in a lawsuit,” Day said. “Sometimes it’s best to put things behind you.” Day said the company has not decided on a new name. American Century Mortgage owner Michael Lebeaux, who was named in the suit, could not be reached to comment. “(Lebeaux) has some time still to come up with a new name,” Day said. “A couple of names are tossing about.” Day said American Century Mortgage is concerned about losing businesses after changing its name. “There are ways that could be alleviated,” he said. “He’s hoping to be able to phase in the change over some time.” American Century Investments could not be reached for a comment. The federal lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. In it, American Century Investments accused the mortgage company of trying to intentionally profit from using a similar name. American Century Investments is also in Kansas City. “American Century Mortgage Corp. intentionally copied American Century’s ‘American Century’ mark with the intention of creating the false impression that … mortgage services originated from and/or were endorsed by, approved by, sponsored by or affiliated with American Century (Investments),” the company alleged in the lawsuit. “Lebeaux repeatedly and deliberately refused to accept mail from American Century’s attorneys relating to this matter,” according to the lawsuit. The name “American Century” has “earned very valuable goodwill and is a very valuable asset of American Century,” the company said in the lawsuit. Day said his client did not try to profit from the investment company’s name. “American Century (Investments) changed its name from 20th Century investments not all that long ago,” Day said, referring to the company’s 1997 name change. Day said his client began using the American Mortgage name in 2002. “This is the American century…and my client wanted to used that name in his business,” Day said. An American Century spokesman reportedly told the Kansas City Business Journal that it was “plausible” that consumers could confuse the two companies or believe they were affiliated. “That’s why we’re pursuing this,” spokesman Chris Doyle was quoted as saying. “We’re a prominent name in the community, and we think there’s a strong possibility that somebody might mistake the two of us.” |
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Patrick Crowley is a political reporter and columnist and former business writer for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Email Patrick at: pcrowley@enquirer.com |
