Ariel Investments, LLC v. Ariel Capital Advisors LLC

230 F. Supp. 3d 849, 2017 WL 319251, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8468
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJanuary 21, 2017
DocketCase No. 15 C 3717
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 230 F. Supp. 3d 849 (Ariel Investments, LLC v. Ariel Capital Advisors LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ariel Investments, LLC v. Ariel Capital Advisors LLC, 230 F. Supp. 3d 849, 2017 WL 319251, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8468 (N.D. Ill. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MATTHEW F. KENNELLY, District Judge:

Ariel Investments, LLC has sued Ariel Capital Advisors LLC alleging trademark infringement, unfair competition, and cybersquatting in violation of the Lanham Act, and unfair trade practices in violation of the Illinois Deceptive Trade Practices Act (IDTPA) and Illinois common law. Ariel Investments has moved for summary judgment on its trademark infringement and unfair competition claims. Ariel Capital has cross-moved for summary judgment on all of Ariel Investments’ claims. For the reasons stated below, the Court grants summary judgment in favor of Ariel Capital on Ariel Investments’ cybersquat-ting claim but otherwise denies both parties’ motions for summary judgment.

Background

I. Ariel Investments

Ariel Investments was founded in January 1983 by John Rogers under the name Ariel Capital Management, Inc. Ariel Investments is an investment management firm that operates in all fifty states. The company provides investment management services and also offers products such as separate accounts and mutual funds to institutional and individual investors. Ariel Investments acquires individual clients through its website, www.arielinvestments. com, and by referrals from potential clients’ financial advisors, such as Schwab, Fidelity, or other broker-dealers. Ariel Investments launched its first public-facing separate account, Ariel Small Cap Fund, in September 1983. It launched its first mutu[853]*853al fund, the Ariel Fund, in November 1986. Rogers has stated that he launched Ariel Investments with $150,000 from family and friends and that he got his first multimillion dollar account after eighteen months. In 2008, the company changed its name to Ariel Investments, LLC. Today, Ariel Investments has over 800,000 mutual fund shareholders across the country.

In June 1983, Ariel Investments applied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to register the trademark ARIEL. Its application stated that it had been using the ARIEL name since January 1983 and had been using it in interstate commerce since March 1983. The USPTO granted registration of the ARIEL trademark to Ariel Investments in July 1984. Over the following years, Ariel Investments registered eight additional trademarks with the USPTO: ARIEL APPRECIATION FUND, ARIEL FUND, ARIEL INVESTMENTS, ARIEL FOCUS FUND, ARIEL’S ABCS OF MONEY, ARIEL DISCOVERY FUND, ARIEL INTERNATIONAL FUND, and ARIEL GLOBAL FUND. These nine marks are referred to collectively as the Ariel Marks. Five of these marks—ARIEL, ARIEL INVESTMENTS, ARIEL FUND, ARIEL FOCUS FUND, and ARIEL APPRECIATION FUND—have become incontestable under 15 U.S.C. § 1115(b). Ariel Investments’ current logo contains the words ARIEL INVESTMENTS and an image of a turtle holding a trophy cup:

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Ariel Investments uses the Ariel Marks to advertise and promote its financial services in numerous publications in print as well as online. It spends, on average, more than $1.3 million per year in advertising. Officers of Ariel Investments have also contributed to various television programs, and Rogers writes a regular column in Forbes Magazine.

II. Ariel Capital

Ariel Capital is a financial services firm founded in 2014 by Christopher Bray. Bray has worked in the financial services industry since the early 1990s and knew of Rogers before founding Ariel Capital. Ariel Investments also sent Bray promotional e-mails around July 2010, while Bray still worked for another company.

Bray indicates that he named Ariel Capital after his daughter, Ariel, and the ministry for which he and his wife have worked for several years. Bray further states that the company name is intended to invoke the Hebrew meaning of the word, namely “lion of God.” Bray initially wanted to use the name Ariel Wealth Ad-visors. He performed a Google search for this name, however, and discovered that it was already in use by a company in New Jersey. Bray says that he cannot recall whether, during that Google search, he also noticed any other financial services firms using the name Ariel. Ariel Capital’s current logo contains the words Ariel Capital Advisors, LLC and an image of the head of a lion:

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Ariel Capital has offices in Florida and Ohio. It is a boutique private wealth management firm offering investment management services as well as tax, retirement, and estate planning services. The company advertises its services on its website, www. arielcapitaladvisors.com, and in advertisements in Florida and Ohio publications. Ariel Capital has clients in over ten states, [854]*854which it finds primarily on a word-of-mouth or referral basis. The company requires of its clients a minimum account of $1 million, though it may choose to accept clients with smaller portfolios. Ariel Capital does not invest in mutual funds and focuses only on individual, as opposed to institutional, clients.

III. The trademark dispute

Ariel Investments claims that Ariel Capital’s use of the word Ariel in connection with its financial services infringes the Ariel Marks. Specifically, Ariel Investments asserts that, given the overlap in services offered by the two companies, an individual investor might conclude that Ariel Capital is sponsored by or otherwise affiliated with Ariel Investments.

Ariel Investments contends that there have been a number of instances where individuals have confused or mistakenly associated the two companies. In March 2015, an unidentified caller contacted Phyllis Brady, a human relations representative for Ariel Investments, and attempted to check references for a job candidate the caller was considering. The caller allegedly stated that someone at Ariel Capital had told her that Ariel Investments and Ariel Capital were related companies.

That same month, Mareilé Cusack, Ariel Investments’ general counsel, received a phone call from a woman asking about a piece of real estate in Naples, Florida. Specifically, the woman stated that the real estate was listed under the name Ariel, she performed a Google search to determine whom this referred to, and she came up with Ariel Investments’ contact information. Cusack told the woman that Ariel Investments did not own or lease any property in Naples.

In April 2015, Chris Squittieri, an employee at Ariel Capital, attended a meeting of chartered financial analysts (CFAs) in Naples. While there, Squittieri was approached by Justin Land, another CFA, who asked Squittieri whether there was any affiliation between Ariel Capital and Ariel Investments.

In February 2016, an unidentified caller contacted Marcie Rebardo, an employee at Ariel Capital, asking to speak with Cheryl Hagen and asking, “Isn’t this Ariel Investments?” The phone number was later connected to the cell phone of Daniel Boone, the owner of a digital publication on the financial industry. Boone has since indicated that he was attempting to contact Cheryl Cargie, an employee of Ariel Investments, to discuss an upcoming article and to determine whether Ariel Investments wanted to advertise in his publication. Boone stated that he mistakenly found Ariel Capital’s number after performing a Google search for Ariel Investments.

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Related

Ariel Investments, LLC v. Ariel Capital Advisors LLC
238 F. Supp. 3d 1009 (N.D. Illinois, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
230 F. Supp. 3d 849, 2017 WL 319251, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8468, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ariel-investments-llc-v-ariel-capital-advisors-llc-ilnd-2017.