AIG Evades Trademark Claims From Missouri Insurance Agency
Written June 10, 2020
The US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on June 4, 2020, held that A.I.G. Agency Inc.’s trademark claims against AIG, the multinational finance and insurance company, were time-barred because it knew of AIG’s use of the mark decades before suing. A.I.G. Agency Inc. v. Am. Int’l Group d/b/a AIG, E.D. Mo., No. 4:17-cv-1502, 6/4/20.
A.I.G. Agency Inc., a Missouri insurance agency, was on notice of AIG’s trademark when it was federally registered in 1981, actually learned of the mark in 1984, and sent AIG a cease-and-desist letter in 1995.
The agency argued that its claims weren’t time-barred because AIG abandoned the trademark after renaming its property and casualty insurance business Chartis in 2009. The agency said the time-bar should be measured from 2012, when AIG resumed using the mark and began selling insurance directly to consumers instead of through brokers and agencies. But the court found that the agency’s delay was “inexcusable” and would unduly prejudice AIG.