Last week the American Petroleum Institute (API) was sued for trademark infringement by Choose Energy, Inc. For 10 years, San Francisco-based Choose Energy has been operating an online marketplace that allows consumers to compare home and business power options from natural gas to solar. In a lawsuit filed last week in a California federal court, Choose Energy, which operates the website ChooseEnergy.com, accuses the API’s launch of ChooseEnergy.org of confusing consumers and harming the company’s goodwill, or in layman’s terms, the company’s reputation and therefore its customers’ confidence.

The suit claims API’s site has confused Choose Energy’s potential customers, especially those who contact the firm through its chat interface, call center and via social media interaction on the Choose Energy’s Twitter account. The bulk of Choose Energy’s business is from working as a broker offering various energy options in the 10 states and the District of Columbia that have deregulated energy markets. So, API's launch, the company insists, is having an adverse impact on its business. Considering API's past use of fake Twitter accounts and litigation over renewable energy regulations in the past, this may not be too big a surprise to observers.

Perusing through both websites, any confusion between the sites’ content dissipates quickly; but the content API has included within ChooseEnergy.org makes it clear why Choose Energy filed the lawsuit. Choose Energy’s site allows homes and businesses to check if their local utility market is deregulated: a quick search within a suburban Baltimore zip code shows the difference between sticking with the local utility or switching to a company that uses only renewable energy. Meanwhile, the API’s site is clearly a promotional, if not a propaganda tool for the fossil fuels sector. The API does not denigrate or attack renewables on ChooseEnergy.org — but it clearly touts what the API claims are the benefits the oil and gas industry brings to the U.S. while offering endless statistics and breakdowns by each state.

Choose Energy claims that its federal registration of the Choose Energy trademarks, one completed in 2002 and one this year — and its use and promotion of the Choose Energy name — makes it clear that it has common law rights on the Choose Energy name. The fact that consumers have contacted the company asking if the firm is a political organization, and has fielded similar inquiries on Twitter, according to Choose Energy, indicates unfair competition and trademark infringement across the board.

Projecting a voice of fossil fuels, while looking over their environmental impact, and using practically the same name as a company that promotes renewables and carbon offsets? Add the fact a Google search for “choose energy” brings up links on both pages, it may seem this is a clear-cut case of unfair competition, if not outright sabotage. But trademark law can be murky — can you trademark a phrase or not? What may seem unfair and unethical may not necessarily be illegal. But no matter how this legal case pans out, the API’s approach comes across as odd — and a public relations embarrassment.

Image credit: Choose Energy, Inc.

After a year in the Middle East and Latin America, Leon Kaye is based in California again. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter. Other thoughts of his are on his site, greengopost.com.