Grubby court battle pits local non-profit against California company

Grub Street, a Boston-based creative writing non-profit, yesterday sued a California company with a similar name that promotes "indie authors," through paid endorsements.

In its trademark suit, filed in US District Court in Boston, Grub Street said Grub Street Reads chose that name to try to mooch off Grub Street's reputation and that the similar name is particularly unfair in Grub Street's home state of Massachusetts.

Grub Street Reads' mark—GRUB STREET READS—is virtually identical and confusingly similar to the GRUB STREET Mark, as it is the same mark, with only one additional non-distinctive word added. Moreover, Grub Street Reads often refers to itself as simply "Grub Street," which is identical to the GRUB STREET Mark. In fact, the headline "THE BEST INDIE AUTHORS COME FROM GRUB STREET" is prominently displayed throughout the Grub Street Reads website, and the website includes a page entitled "What The Grub Street Endorsement Means." ...

In the suit, Grub Street compares its annual Grub Street National Book Prize, which it says is a highly sought after award, with the dozens of somewhat grubby endorsements on the other concern's Web site, many of which, the suit says, were bought with "review" fees of between $14.99 and $74.99 paid by authors:

The difference between defendant Grub Street Reads' use of the marks, and Grub Street' use of the Mark, is the unfettered willingness with which Grub Street Reads awards its endorsements. Grub Street Reads claims that it does not "endorse everyone," but suggests that almost half of the paid submissions it receives are endorsed.

Grub Street wants Grub Street Reads to knock it off and give up the name and pay it treble damages and lawyers' fees.