This week, Hartford Courant business columnist Dan Haar talks about what the recent troubles on Metro-North mean for businesses and commuters in Connecticut, as well as a lawsuit filed by The Travelers Cos. against a British insurance company for its use of an umbrella logo it says is too similar to the Hartford-based insurer’s iconic red umbrella.
Legal & General Group PLC of London and its affiliates — including William Penn Life Insurance Co. and Banner Life Insurance Co. — have used an image of an umbrella, with red, blue, yellow and green segments, in advertising and promotions to build “goodwill in their brand,” attorneys for Travelers say in the lawsuit. Legal & General also displays the multicolored umbrella above the entrance to its U.S. headquarters in Urbana, Md.
The British company’s use of an umbrella to market and sell insurance and financial services products “is extremely likely to dilute the famous Travelers Umbrella Mark, thus severely harming Travelers,” the suit says. In recent years, the document says, Travelers has spent tens of millions of dollars annually to promote its brand using the red umbrella.
Read Matthew Sturdevant’s full story about the logo lawsuit on courant.com.