Scoopon backs down in Groupon name war

Aussie coupon site Scoopon has backed away from a legal battle brought against it by US-based deal giant Groupon, with the two settling the case out of court.

(My trusty gavel image by Brian Turner, CC2.0)

The legal battle centred around the use of the name Groupon Pty Ltd, which Aussie-based Scoopon registered with IP Australia as its own five days before US-based Groupon did in March 2010.

Groupon dragged Scoopon to court over the name, with a court date set for 1 October 2011. Groupon has today confirmed, however, that the dispute has been settled out of court, and that it now owns the rights to both the name — Groupon Pty Ltd — and the URL www.groupon.com.au. IP Australia has also recognised the settlement, with the dispute now listed as withdrawn, while Groupon's registration details have been updated accordingly.

Yet Groupon won't be immediately changing its name from Stardeals, which it was forced to register and use for trade during the dispute. Groupon told ZDNet Australia that it was unclear when it would change the name.

Scoopon declined to comment on the details of the out-of-court settlement, even though the co-founders of Scoopon had originally demanded that Groupon buy the entire business arm to get access to the trademark.

It is unclear just how much Groupon paid Scoopon to settle the case, if anything, but the Liebovich brothers had already turned down a bid for the name to the tune of US$286,000.