On March 7, 2024, HP announced the launch of its own “WEX,” which WEX Inc. believes is a misappropriation of its own trademarks.
Photo: Automotive Fleet
WEX Inc.* has filed a federal lawsuit against HP Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. for infringing its trademarks, according to a news release. WEX Inc. is a corporate payment solutions provider, used by many fleets for fuel expenses and other uses.
Details on the Lawsuit
On March 7, 2024, HP announced the launch of its own “WEX,” a misappropriation of WEX Inc.’s trademarks.
Like WEX Inc.’s platform offerings, HP WEX is a platform that aims to supply businesses with solutions to their everyday workforce problems, the plaintiff noted in a news release. According to HP WEX’s website, the new offering “intelligently anticipates and resolves digital friction from an AI-powered and modular platform.”
WEX Inc. stated that HP’s “WEX” is marketing to a similar customer base. This, WEX Inc. noted, is inevitably causing confusion in the marketplace.
The lawsuit states, in part, “HP’s new venture will cause irreparable harm to WEX [Inc.] and deceive consumers, who will mistakenly believe either that WEX [Inc.] is one of the ‘Workforce Experience Platforms’ in HP’s family of offerings, or that HP’s “WEX” is the same as WEX [Inc.].”
Both WEX Inc. and HP’s “WEX” are promoting their respective software as being customer-driven, providing data, assisting in fleet management, increasing productivity, utilizing AI, and reducing friction.
“WEX [Inc.] is a globally recognized company that has developed a platform to manage complex logistical challenges for businesses worldwide. HP’s use of the “WEX” name will inevitably sow confusion in the marketplace,” WEX Inc. Vice President of Financial Communications Jessica Roy said “Given the similarities between the software, fleet and data management, and employee solutions offered by WEX [Inc.] on the one hand, and the “WEX”-branded software, fleet and data management, and employee solutions offered by HP on the other, combined with the overlapping worldwide footprint of both companies, confusion between the two WEX offerings is inevitable—and is already beginning to materialize. We have filed this action to prevent harm to our brand.”
WEX Inc. has been using the name WEX since 1989 and formally rebranded to WEX in 2012. It holds several federally registered trademarks for WEX, covering software-as-a-service (SaaS).
WEX Inc. holds five incontestable trademark registrations protecting use of the WEX name for services that HP’s “WEX” is attempting to mirror, “claiming services in the same classes as the registered WEX trademarks,” WEX Inc. stated.
The plaintiff went on to say that it “tried to resolve this dispute amicably, but HP refused to stop its use of the WEX name,” leading to the lawsuit. WEX intends to seek a preliminary injunction to force HP to immediately discontinue all further infringement of the WEX trademark.
“This case is about protecting WEX [Inc.’s] global brand and its longstanding trademark rights,” said Megan K. Bannigan, Partner at Debevoise & Plimpton and counsel to WEX Inc. “HP’s use of the “WEX” name is already beginning to create confusion in the marketplace and will lead customers to believe that HP is either partnering with or has acquired WEX [Inc.’s] widely respected platform and software know-how to market HP’s new services. WEX [Inc.] and its customers deserve protection from the confusion HP’s actions will cause.”
Automotive Fleet reached out to HP for comment on the lawsuit. A spokesperson told AF that the company does not comment on pending litigation.
*Editor’s Note: To avoid confusion due to the names, we referred to WEX, the plaintiff, as WEX Inc.
