ADT sues Amazon’s Ring over lookalike blue octagon signs
The security company says the sign looks too much like its own.
ADT has filed a lawsuit against Ring for using blue octagon signs to promote the Ring Alarm Outdoor Siren. The US home security company said over 6.5 million customers in the country are using its blue octagon lawn signs and window stickers to show that their houses are protected by its offerings. Its trademarked sign is "iconic in the security market," the company argues, adding that Ring copied it "seeking to tout a reputation for trust to potential customers that it has not earned."
In the complaint it filed accusing the Amazon—owned company of willful trademark infringement and unfair competition, ADT wrote that by using a similar-looking sign, "people will believe that Ring is providing a security service on par with ADT — or, worse, that Ring is providing its security service in partnership with ADT." The security company also noted the first time Ring used blue octagon signage in its lawsuit.
Apparently, Ring signed an agreement not to use trademarks or names that may confuse it with ADT in 2016, but it started offering a blue octagon yard sign that says "Protected by Ring" a few months later. After ADT reached out to Ring, the latter agreed to make the sign less blue. ADT backed down and didn't take any more action against it until these newer, bluer signs emerged.
That's not the only time the two companies clashed with each other. In 2017, ADT accused Ring of stealing and using the platform it developed in the Ring Protect DIY home security system. As Bloomberg notes, they settled in 2018, around the time Amazon purchased Ring for over $800 million. Amazon worked with ADT prior to that acquisition, but now ADT is backed by Google, which recently invested $450 million in the company to get its Nest products in more homes.
ADT is now asking a federal court in Florida to stop Ring from using blue octagon signs and for an unspecified amount of cash in compensation.
Here's a comparison of the two signs provided by ADT in its lawsuit:
