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societal medium startup Fizzis litigate grocery delivery giant Instacart and party design app Partiful for trademark violation , the company announced on Thursday . Earlier this hebdomad , Instacart launcheda new beverage and collation delivery app for company called Fizzand announced that Partiful had mix Fizz directly into its political program .
Founded in 2020 , Fizz is a Gen Z - concenter social networking app available on more than 400 college campus .
The lawsuit , file Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California , seeks a jury tryout , injunctive ministration , damages , and a court order exclude Instacart and Partiful from using the “ FIZZ ” name in connection with societal or event planning service .
Instacart and Partiful did not respond to TechCrunch ’s request for comment .
In the lawsuit , Fizz state that it has been using the “ FIZZ ” trademark since January 2022 and charge for stylemark enrollment in December 2021 . The inauguration is accusing Instacart and Partiful of common law trademark infringement , federal earmark infringement , cybersquatting , and violating California ’s unfair competition constabulary .
“ This Modern Fizz App by Instacart and Partiful is a blatant endeavour to defalcate the good will that Plaintiff has painstakingly developed through its continuous use of the FIZZ Marks among the Gen - zed demographic , ” the lawsuit reads . “ Together , Instacart and Partiful are compete caput - on with Plaintiff in its core market of event plan for the Gen - Z demographic . Instacart and Partiful could have chosen any name for their novel venture , but rather than compete on an even play field , they are using FIZZ . ”
Fizz alleges that Instacart and Partiful knowingly set up the new app with the identical name for the same Gen Z demographic , creating a likeliness of mental confusion among customers who may think that the new ordering service is affiliated with or endorsed by Fizz .
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The startup also allege that Instacart and Partiful are exploiting its brand recognition as a known social program for Gen Z.
“ Plaintiff is inform and believe and thereupon alleges that Defendant Instacart had a bad religion purport to profit from the FIZZ Marks when it registered the domain name < FIZZ.COM > , ” the suit province . “ Specifically , Defendant Instacart know or should have known of the FIZZ Marks and integrate Plaintiff ’s trademark and barter name in its area name . In doing so , Defendant Instacart intended to divert consumers from the Fizz Platform ’s on-line locating < FIZZ.SOCIAL > to the Fizz App online location for Defendant ’s own commercial amplification . ”
Additionally , the lawsuit say that Partiful competes with Fizz straight off in the event planning space , and that the company is now using Fizz ’s name to put off the Gen Z demographic after fail “ to succeed the Gen zed market through fair competition . ”
The causa announce today is n’t Fizz ’s first brushing with legal action , as the startupsued rival Sidechat in 2023over unjust competition exercise .
