The Lan-Oak Park District has filed a lawsuit against The Lansing Journal LLC for alleged trademark infringement.
The park district accuses the local newspaper of using its trademarked logo without permission.
The logo in question is an image of a clock tower located in Park Plaza, which the park district claims to have registered with the State of Illinois in 2012. According to the lawsuit, this logo has been actively used for many years in marketing and promoting various park district events, programs, and activities to the Lansing community and the general public.
The park district alleges that The Lansing Journal has misappropriated this logo for its own use. This includes displaying it on multiple locations on their website and selling merchandise such as mugs, stickers, hoodies, and t-shirts featuring the logo.
Despite repeated alleged requests from the park district to discontinue use and remove the infringing images from its website, The Lansing Journal has allegedly failed to do so. The park district argues that this misuse of their logo will cause irreparable harm and is a violation of both federal and state law.
The lawsuit was filed April 5 in Cook County Circuit Court.
The park district is represented by attorney James K. Borcia, of Tressler LLP, of Chicago.