Pandora sued for trademark infringement

When Pandora unveiled its new logo and branding last October, it ushered in a new era for the one-time internet radio giant as it moved to compete with subscription leaders Apple Music and Spotify.

Now, Pandora is being sued for “especially egregious and harmful” trademark infringement, according to a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York.

E-commerce business PayPal claims Pandora’s new ‘P’ logo takes cues directly from PayPal’s own identity.

“The similarities between the logos are striking, obvious, and patently unlawful,” reads the suit, filed on May 19. “Just like the PayPal logo, the Pandora logo is a capital P in block style, sans serif, with no counter, in the same deep-blue colour range.

“[…] PayPal and Pandora directly compete for real estate on the screens of mobile devices,” it later adds. “Having a distinctive, non-confusing logo is critical in the mobile space.”

Having made its case using screen shots of tweets from Twitter users who noticed similarities between the two logos, PayPal is calling for a jury trial.

The company has requested for the court to prevent Pandora from any further use of its new logo. It is also after damages and attorneys’ fees.

It seems Pandora just can’t catch a break; the company lost 2.5 million active users in the first quarter of 2017 and posted a quarterly net loss of US$132.3 million. What’s more, if New York Post is to be believed, Pandora’s banks have re-entered talks with SiriusXM and is discussing the size of a potential offer – again.

Let’s just pray the suit doesn’t give Pandora jewellery any ideas…

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.