Fair Isaac Doesn't Get To Trademark Its Credit Score Scale

from the you-get-a-653-in-creative-trademark-abuse dept

Eric Goldman has the details on a case involving Fair Isaac and its (failed) attempt to claim a trademark on the infamous credit scores it offers. Obviously, you can't just trademark numbers, but Fair Isaac tried to make the case that the scale it uses for your credit rating scores, 300-850, is protectable. The jury tossed that out, and the judge summarized:

"the jury returned a verdict finding that the alleged '300-850' mark was not a valid, protectable trademark because the term '300-850”'has not acquired secondary meaning."

Separately, in the meat of the case, the court rejected claims by Fair Isaac that Experian and Trans Union infringed on its trademarks with their Google AdWords advertising, noting that (beyond the fact that 300-850 isn't trademarkable), there was no confusion on the part of consumers who saw the ads. Fair Isaac had offered up an "expert" witness to claim otherwise, but the court simply said that the expert "lacks credibility."

Filed Under: credit scores, trademark
Companies: fair isaac