Over two years ago, Bernard Urban rebranded his URBANadvertising company to become GIGANTIC. In April, agency We Are Gigantic was born out of an MDC consolidation of its MFP and Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners agencies. We Are Gigantic is headed by Niel Powell who formerly was a partner at the now defunct MFP which suffered significant client loss.
Both GIGANTIC and We Are Gigantic are located in New York. Urban has taken issue with MDC naming its new shop We Are Gigantic and has filed suit against We are Gigantic, L.L.C. and Neil Powell claiming trademark infringement.
Urban tells us, “Neil has offered to peacefully co-exist with our company by offering a plan for differentiating our brands, but so far I have seen nothing that remotely attempts to accomplish this. I am flummoxed as to why this so difficult a document to produce for someone who is supposedly so proficient in branding. Specifically, I find the use of the color red in his logo to be particularly naive, given the use of red in our logotype.”
Powell doesn’t see a problem and told Advertising Age, “We love the name. We think the lawsuit has absolutely no merit. So does our counsel and so does MDC. We plan to vigorously defend it to the bitter end.”
It’s very easy to understand the potential confusion. With everything becoming an acronym or an abbreviation of itself, it’s fair to assume We Are Gigantic could certainly be casually referred to as Gigantic which is why Urban seems to have a leg to stand on here.
