Judge slaps a halt on GO logo

November 14, 1999 5:13 PM PT

A U.S. District Court Judge granted a preliminary injunction against Disney Corp.'s use of its "GO.com" logo, which GoTo.com has charged is too similar to its own, GoTo.com said on Sunday.

Disney said earlier this month it expects to finalize its acquisition of Internet search service Infoseek Corp. on Wednesday, when its Buena Vista Internet Group and Infoseek will be combined to form the GO.com Internet portal.

The logo for GoTo.com, which links consumers to Internet advertisers, features a green circle surrounded by a yellow background with the words "Go" and "To" printed in the circle.

The GO Network's page also features a green circle surrounded by a yellow background -- much like a traffic light -- with the word "GO" printed inside the circle.

The court found that the defendants' use of the similar logo has caused, and is likely to continue causing, confusion among consumers, Infoseek said in a statement.

"We are thrilled with this ruling. It helps us to eliminate the confusion created by the similarity of Disney's logo to our own," said Jeffrey Brewer, GoTo.com's chief executive officer, in a statement.

Appeal coming
Disney vowed to appeal the decision.

"Since we are confident that our logo does not impinge on that of any other, we are very disappointed in the ruling," Disney spokesman John Dreyer said. "We are moving quickly to obtain a stay of the order and an appellate review."

He emphasized that the ruling does not affect the use of the name GO.

The injunction, which Infoseek said would take effect on Monday, prohibits Disney from using GoTo's design mark, or a similar variation, pending a full trial.

A pre-trial conference is scheduled for March of next year, Infoseek said.

GoTo.com sued Disney in February 1999, charging that Disney's then newly-launched GO Network had unlawfully adopted a logo that is confusingly similar to the unique logo that GoTo.com has been using since December 1997.