CUNA national brand becomes center of controversy

LEAWOOD, Kan. – Gold Banc Corp., a parent company of Gold Bank seems to think that a slogan is worth more than money too. The Kansas City bank has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas claiming the CUNA’s National CU Brand Campaign slogan “Where people are worth more than money” infringes on its service mark, “More than money” and is causing confusion in the marketplace. The bank, which operates in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Florida, is seeking a settlement in which CUNA and credit unions would stop using the slogan in their promotion and advertising and destroy any existing branded materials. According to the December 2000 CUNA Yearbook, more than one third of all credit unions are using the brand logo or slogan with brand use higher among community credit unions at 42%. According to CUNA General Counsel Eric Richard, the suit has no merit. The bank’s slogan was found during CUNA’s trademark search and when the CU brand slogan was initially registered as a service mark it passed the scrutiny of two different U.S. Patent and Trademark Office attorneys who were aware of the Gold Banc registration. “We still feel there is no infringement because the two slogans are very different and it is unlikely to confuse consumers,” said Richard. “So we’re confident we’ll prevail if Gold Banc pursues this action.” Credit Union Times attempted several times to reach Gold Banc Co. for comment, however the calls were never returned. According to Richard, CUNA plans to reject Gold Banc’s settlement proposal. A number of CU leagues have already stated that they plan to continue using the national CU brand. – [email protected]