H&R Block Inc. HRB -0.62% is suing Block Inc., SQ -4.56% the financial-technology company formerly known as Square Inc., for trademark infringement.
The tax-prep company believes Block’s recent name change will confuse customers and harm its brand. It wants Block to stop using the name and a logo it sees as “nearly identical” to its own, according to a complaint filed in federal court Thursday. (H&R Block’s logo is a green square; Block’s Cash App sports a green square with rounded corners and a white dollar sign).
“The goodwill that Block has so carefully created and nurtured over the past six decades is now under attack by a Silicon Valley fintech company,” attorneys for H&R Block said in the complaint.
Block, H&R Block said, is a “relatively new Silicon Valley business” that “does not have the kind of history or reputation for trust and reliability that [H&R] Block has enjoyed for more than 65 years.”
Block didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Square changed its name to Block earlier this month, saying the moniker better represents its various business lines. It also alludes to Chief Executive Jack Dorsey’s interest in blockchain, the technology that underpins cryptocurrency. Square’s merchant-payment service, known for its signature white card readers, will continue to be known as Square. The company’s ticker symbol will remain SQ.
The rebranding, coupled with overlapping business lines, could cause customers to mistake one brand for the other, H&R Block said. Both companies offer or plan to offer tax-filing services and loans, among other financial offerings. Block agreed to buy Intuit’s tax-prep business last year and plans to deliver tax returns via Cash App.
Henry and Richard Bloch founded the tax-prep firm in the 1950s. The brothers chose to end the company’s name with a “k” because their last name was often mispronounced.
H&R Block owns U.S. trademark registrations for “H&R Block,” “Blockworks,” “Block Advisors” and other related names. It doesn’t have a trademark registered for “Block” but believes its established use of the name provides certain trademark rights. H&R Block owns a trademark registration for its green square logo.
Courts determine trademark infringement cases by weighing factors including the level of similarity between products or services and the likelihood that the companies will expand into each other’s business areas.
Write to Orla McCaffrey at [email protected]
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Appeared in the December 17, 2021, print edition as ‘H&R Block Sues Block Over Name.’
