It was bound to happen. Two effectiveness competitions, on opposite ends of the globe. One, established in 1993; the other, in 2002. One is the Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness (AME) Awards, presented in New York; the other, the Asian Marketing Effectiveness (AME) Awards, with its base in China and Southeast Asia. But today’s is a global marketplace, and in the ensuing confusion, one has finally taken action against the other.
In a letter to industry leaders, CEO James Smyth of the US-based Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness Awards called for concerted disapproval towards what it deemed a conscious infringement on its brand.
He said, “I encourage all owners of brand names to object to Haymarket’s deceptive methods and blatant use of our international brand names by emailing Rupert Heseltine, Executive Chairman, and Kevin Costello, Chairman of Haymarket, as well as others at Media Asia at the addresses listed below. It will send a strong message that all brand owners should respect other brand owners. Otherwise, whose brand name will be next?”
According to Smyth, last February 2009, its attorneys notified Media Asia Magazine and their owner, the UK’s Haymarket Publications, organizers of the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards, that their use of "AME" and "AME Awards" was causing confusion in the international marketplace. They also advised them that "AME", "AME Awards", and variations of those brand names were registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 1997, 2002 and 2003.
A month later, Haymarket Asia’s Finance Director Colin Sanders responded.
Sanders allegedly said, “…it is not and has never been our intention to infringe your client’s rights in regards to the name AME in relation to awards, and that we were unaware of your client’s event until we received your email. We wish to make it clear that we own the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards trademark in a number of Asian markets.”
Smyth said that the US-based AME Awards recognizes that the name Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards is a duly registered brand in this hemisphere. However it cried foul upon discovering that three days after Sanders claimed no intent to infringe on the AME name, it registered "AME" in Singapore and Hong Kong.
The Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness Awards’ call to arms comes within days of the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards’ ninth show, in Shanghai.
Adobo magazine contacted Haymarket Asia for its side of the controversy, but has not received a response as of yet.
Observers said that one possible way out for Haymarket could be to nickname its AME the Amies. But then, would that constitute a riff on that other well-established effectiveness award-giving body–the Effies?
Check back for more updates on this developing story.
