ECHO Health, Inc. v. Echo Payments
- Paul Magnuson
- 0:23-cv-00741
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 6
In ECHO Health v. Echo Payments, Judge Magnuson entered default judgment, barred confusing uses of “Echo,” and ordered echopayments.com transferred to ECHO Health.
ECHO Health, Inc. received an injunction and the transfer of the echopayments.com domain. Echo Payments and persons covered by the order who receive actual notice are barred from the specified uses of the domain and the word “Echo” and must transfer the domain.
What happened
ECHO Health, Inc. v. Echo Payments concerned ECHO Health’s claims that Echo Payments’ name, logo, and echopayments.com domain were likely to confuse customers about the companies’ relationship and services.
Echo Payments did not respond to the lawsuit or appear at the hearing. The court therefore entered default against it. ECHO Health requested only an injunction and transfer of the domain, not money damages or attorney’s fees.
Judge Paul A. Magnuson ruled that Echo Payments violated the federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. He barred further confusing uses of “Echo” and ordered Echo Payments to transfer echopayments.com to ECHO Health.
The detailed version
- ECHO Health, Inc. v. Echo Payments · No. 0:23-cv-00741
- Paul Magnuson
- Sept. 13, 2023
Background
ECHO Health sued Echo Payments and moved for default judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2). The opinion states that ECHO Health has used several registered ECHO trademarks since 2013 in connection with healthcare payment-processing services and has used the ECHO Payments Simplified mark since 2016. ECHO Health operates a website at echohealthinc.com.
Echo Payments was formed in July 2016 and operated echopayments.com. Beginning in September 2020, it displayed a mark on that website that, according to the court’s findings, had significant similarities to ECHO Health’s ECHO Payments Simplified mark. The court found that Echo Payments’ use of “Echo,” its domain name, and the similar design was likely to cause confusion about the source, sponsorship, approval, affiliation, or connection of its services with ECHO Health. The opinion also states that the allegedly infringing use was nationwide and had damaged, or was likely to continue damaging, ECHO Health.
Default
Echo Payments was served with the summons and complaint by email on May 25, 2023, but did not answer or otherwise respond. ECHO Health requested entry of default on June 22, 2023, and the Clerk’s Office entered default on June 26, 2023. Echo Payments also did not appear at the September 12, 2023 hearing on the motion.
At the hearing, ECHO Health clarified that it sought only injunctive relief and transfer of the domain name. It did not request money damages or attorney’s fees.
Ruling
The court concluded that ECHO Health had established its entitlement to the requested injunction. It ordered Echo Payments and covered persons who receive actual notice of the order not to use the echopayments.com domain or use “Echo” in a way likely to cause confusion about the source or affiliation of goods or services.
The court also ordered that Echo Payments had violated the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d). Under that statute, the court ordered Echo Payments and covered persons who receive actual notice to transfer ownership and control of echopayments.com to ECHO Health. The order states, “LET JUDGMENT BE ENTERED ACCORDINGLY.”
Read the full 6-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.