uShip, the company that connects connects people and businesses with couriers who specialise in moving hard-to-ship items, claimed trademark and copyright infringement by Shiply, another company which matches people with goods to move and transport companies. uShip took the case to the High Court in London and the two companies today announced a settlement in which Shiply has agreed to redesign its web site, and pay an amount in compensation to uShip.
Robert Matthams, MD of Shiply said “We have already redesigned our website, and have agreed to implement further changes to our logo and other element at issue. We hope that it will remove any chance of association between uShip and Shiply for customers, transporters and the community.”
uShip.com has been copied by dozens of competitors since we launched our innovative transport marketplace in 2004″ claimed Matt Chasen, CEO and founder of uShip. He says the litigation shows that they will defend their IP rights around the world.
uShip have a million customers and 200,000 service providers with localised sites in the UK and across Europe, as well as in the U.S.. Canada, EU and Australia. Shiply have 250,000 customers mainly in the UK but have recently expanded operations to Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Holland.
If you’re looking to move a difficult to ship item, anything from a grand piano to antiques, it’s worth exploring the services offered by these two companies.
2 Responses
Good for U ship.
Its really hard to get a good rep and a name thats approved (as in trade mark name) let alone all the goodwill they buit up.
There is loads of law suits started by quite small companies online i noticed when i was researcging trade names for a product we are about to launch.
Though if shiply defence the name isnt that close.
Its a mine field thats for sure
I can’t find anything about the original suit so I’m not sure what the trademark issue was over since the word ship is a common word and they both ship products. I’m guessing it had something to do with their logo or “look and feel” instead of the name.
However I do applaud them for successfully defending their IP rights from someone that clearly copied their product. Every couple of months I stumble upon someone openly trying to hire someone to duplicate my own IP.