Market has shrugged off the injunction: DIS and SEEK had positive days.
Judge Nixes Disney Internet Logo
18:10EST
11/15/99
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Walt Disney Co. will fight a preliminary court order that barred use of its Go Network Internet logo because it resembles the emblem of the GoTo.com search engine.
GoTo.com won an injunction on Friday from U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter, who said Disney's logo will cause GoTo.com to "suffer irreparable harm.'
"We are moving quickly to obtain a stay of the order and an appellate review,' Disney spokeswoman Christine Castro said Monday. "It's important to note that this ruling does not affect the use of the name Go,' she said. "We are now in the process of understanding what is involved in carrying out the injunction and we intend to bring that to the court's attention.'
In December 1997, Pasadena, Calif.-based GoTo.com began using a logo with its name spelled in white on a green circle on a yellow rectangle.
The Go Network, formed in an alliance between Disney and Infoseek Corp., started using the disputed logo on its Go.com site last January. The emblem has the word "Go' written in white letters on a green traffic light inside a square yellow case.
GoTo.com sued Disney and Infoseek in February, saying it had invested millions of dollars and thousands of hours to put its trademark in front of consumers and to build brand awareness.
Despite the similar titles of the Web sites, GoTo.com only argued against the resemblance of the logos, not against the name Go Network.
The ruling comes as GoTo.com prepares to launch a new national advertising campaign and Disney is expected to complete its acquisition of Sunnyvale-based Infoseek.
Infoseek, one of the Internet's top search engines, is responsible for most of Go Network.
Shares of GoTo.com jumped more than 19 percent on news of the court ruling, up $17.78[ to $109 at 4 p.m. on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Disney also rose, going up 81\ cents to $25.87{ at 5:15 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange. |
