Sweetwater Sound, Inc. has settled its trademark infringement lawsuit against Hello Music.
In the lawsuit, which was filed earlier this year, Sweetwater alleged that Hello Music illegally copied Sweetwater’s online content, including product information and specifications, and posted them on the Hello Music website in order to promote the sale of audio technology and musical instruments. Sweetwater insisted that this abuse was blatant and damaging to its trademark and brand. A number of Hello Music pages even contained the word “Sweetwater.” All of this content has now been removed from Hello Music’s web site.
Sweetwater founder and president Chuck Surack remarked, “I regret having to take legal action, but the abuse was blatant. Our website was the first in the industry and its content is the product of years of hard work on the part of many people here at Sweetwater. I had to act to protect that content as well as the Sweetwater brand. My hope is that others will now think twice before they attempt to infringe on our brand or make unauthorized use of our content.”
In the settlement agreement, Hello Music admits and acknowledges that: “its online e-store site at hellomusic.com contained select content, including but not limited to approximately 50 product descriptions, that was displayed to the public.” The agreement goes on to say, “Hello Music did so without permission or authorization from Sweetwater.”
Hello Music also agreed to pay monetary damages to Sweetwater for its acts of trademark infringement and admits that it “could have been, and will be in the future, more diligent about monitoring and protecting against unauthorized use of others’ trademarked or copyrighted materials in content it posts to its website.”
