Social media startup Fizz sues Instacart and Partiful for trademark infringement over new Fizz app

Social media startup Fizz is suing grocery supply big Instacart and get together planning app Partiful for trademark infringement, the corporate introduced on Thursday. Earlier this week, Instacart launched a brand new drinks and snack supply app for events referred to as Fizz and introduced that Partiful had built-in Fizz straight into its platform.

Founded in 2020, Fizz is a Gen Z-focused social networking app out there on greater than 400 school campuses.

The go well with, filed Wednesday within the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks a jury trial, injunctive reduction, damages, and a court docket order barring Instacart and Partiful from utilizing the “FIZZ” title in reference to social or occasion planning providers.

Instacart and Partiful didn’t reply to TechCrunch’s request for remark.

In the lawsuit, Fizz states that it has been utilizing the “FIZZ” trademark since January 2022 and filed for trademark registration in December 2021. The startup is accusing Instacart and Partiful of frequent legislation trademark infringement, federal trademark infringement, cybersquatting, and violating California’s unfair competitors legal guidelines.

“This new Fizz App by Instacart and Partiful is a blatant try and misappropriate the goodwill that Plaintiff has painstakingly developed via its steady use of the FIZZ Marks among the many Gen-Z demographic,” the lawsuit reads. “Together, Instacart and Partiful are competing head-on with Plaintiff in its core market of occasion planning for the Gen-Z demographic. Instacart and Partiful might have chosen any title for his or her new enterprise, however relatively than compete on a fair taking part in discipline, they’re utilizing FIZZ.”

Fizz alleges that Instacart and Partiful knowingly launched the brand new app with the equivalent title for a similar Gen Z demographic, making a chance of confusion amongst clients who could imagine that the brand new ordering service is affiliated with or endorsed by Fizz.

The startup additionally alleges that Instacart and Partiful are exploiting its model recognition as a recognized social platform for Gen Z.

“Plaintiff is knowledgeable and believes and thereupon alleges that Defendant Instacart had a nasty religion intent to revenue from the FIZZ Marks when it registered the area title ,” the lawsuit states. “Specifically, Defendant Instacart knew or ought to have recognized of the FIZZ Marks and integrated Plaintiff’s trademark and commerce title in its area title. In doing so, Defendant Instacart supposed to divert customers from the Fizz Platform’s on-line location to the Fizz App on-line location for Defendant’s personal business achieve.”

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that Partiful competes with Fizz straight within the occasions planning house, and that the corporate is now utilizing Fizz’s title to confuse the Gen Z demographic after failing “to win the Gen Z market via truthful competitors.”

The lawsuit introduced in the present day isn’t Fizz’s first brush with authorized motion, because the startup sued rival Sidechat in 2023 over unfair competitors practices.