New York Stock Exchange Demands Trademark Trial

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has accused a financial advisory company called New York Shell Exchange of unfairly trading with an identical name to its registered trademarks and diluting its “famous” brand.


In a lawsuit filed on Monday, August 17, at the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the NYSE requested a jury trial to determine whether the New York Shell Exchange has infringed its trademarks.


Since 1863, the NYSE has used the terms ‘NYSE’ and ‘New York Stock Exchange’ in connection with “conducting securities exchange”. The organisation also holds registered US trademarks for the phrases.


According to the lawsuit, Patrick Giordano and William Hayde allegedly started infringing the ‘NYSE’ mark in 2012 as well as using the “colourable imitation” of New York Shell Exchange. The New York Shell Exchange gives financial advice to its customers by providing the “necessary resources to find, buy, or sell publicly traded companies”.


The allegedly infringing marks have also been used on the company’s LinkedIn and Twitter pages.


Giordano and Hayde also own the registration to the domains newyorkshellexchange.com and nyshellexchange.com.


The NYSE has asked the court to find that the New York Shell Exchange willfully infringed the marks and is liable for cybersquatting. It is also asking that any material bearing the allegedly infringing marks be destroyed.