BrightRidge files for an injunction against Brightspeed

BrightRidge Broadband has filed litigation against the owner of what was formerly known as CenturyLink for branding its communications/internet services under the name Brightspeed.BrightRidge CEO Jeff Dykes said his company has filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Tennessee seeking an injunction against Apollo Global Management Inc., a New York City-based private equity firm that completed the purchase of the assets of CenturyLink/Lumen Technologies on Oct. 3.Dykes said the name that Apollo Global has chosen for its new corporation — Brightspeed — has created confusion among BrightRidge customers.Dykes noted in a statement released on Monday that 85% of the customers it has surveyed in the BrightRidge service area believe the two names are confusing. The newly named Brightspeed is taking over CenturyLink's telephone and internet operations in Tennessee and 19 other states."Filing a lawsuit is not a step we take lightly," Dykes said. "BrightRidge Broadband is more than prepared to compete as our customers are receiving next generation Internet services at a price point that benefits the region. However, if our customers can't find us because they were confused by a similarly branded competitor, that hurts the community and our company."BrightRidge Broadband said in a news release that it pursued the matter with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and while USPTO did require Apollo to amend its application, it ultimately did not deem the use of Brightspeed to be confusing in the BrightRidge Broadband market area.The matter is still pending in front of USPTO, with Apollo failing to amend its application. As of Monday, the USPTO has not published the Brightspeed mark in the Federal Register.BrightRidge alleges Apollo Global has announced its entry into the marketplace despite lingering questions about its legitimate use of the Brightspeed brand. In its request for an injunction, BrightRidge argues that Brightspeed is attempting to grow its market share by "misappropriation of the goodwill generated by BrightRidge Broadband's positive impact on the community through its provision of next generation internet services to the market."Former CenturyLink customers were first notified of the company's new name by an email in August."We don't want you to be surprised by a new company name and logo that you'll start seeing on your bill on or after October 3, 2022, and in your inbox next week," the message said. "Though your bill will look different, your existing products, services, rates, terms and conditions of service will be the same."The change came after Lumen Technologies sold its CenturyLink telecommunications operations to Apollo Global in August 2021. The $7.5 billion transaction saw the investment group acquire Lumen's consumer, small business, wholesale and mostly copper-served enterprise customers and assets.CenturyLink provided landline telephone and digital subscriber line or DSL internet services in Northeast Tennessee, as well as to customers in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia.Brightspeed has assured its customers the new name will not cause any interruptions to any of the services they had been receiving from CenturyLink.The company said Brightspeed will not require any changes to a customer's modem/router or other equipment and telephone customers will keep their current phone numbers.