(AUSTIN, Texas)–Rose, Furman & Associates (RFA) has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Ninja Marketing Gurus, Inc., for also using the term “fishbowl” to name its glass-walled conference room.
According to court documents published Monday, RFA claims that Ninja Marketing Gurus had posted on its Instagram account a photo of six staff members “having an on fleek creative meeting for a new client in our fishbowl. #ThatsHowNinjasDoIt”
RFA opened May 1, 1998 and named its conference room shortly thereafter. Ninja Marketing Gurus was founded in 2015 in a coworking space and moved to its current office in October 2016.
The lawsuit states that Ninja Marketing Gurus must immediately rename its conference room and remove other infringing elements, including a whiteboard with Post-It notes, a mini-fridge with bottled water from Costco and a “Chive On” poster.
“Whether it’s to figure out how to make our clients seem like they know cool slang on social media, go over individual staff wins for the past week or frantically fill out industry award applications last-minute, the Fishbowl(R) has always been a unique component of our agency,” RFA Co-Founder and Chief Idea Officer Jeff Rose said in a written statement. “Any other company thinking to make the walls of their conference room see-through and cleverly naming it a ‘fishbowl’ is obviously stealing our IP.”
Rose also noted the ability to see who’s in the fishbowl and spontaneously join in meetings has helped RFA attract “rock-star talent in our industry.”
Attempts to reach Ninja Marketing Gurus for comment were unsuccessful.