Trial finds ‘Spiderlift’ infringes on Spider trademark

SafeWorks, LLC, the Washington State, US, company that manufactures and rents powered suspended platforms under the Spider and PowerClimber brands, has won a US court case over the use of the Spider name in the US.

Teupen America, which rents and sells track-mounted aerial lifts called 'spiderlifts,' had applied in 2008 to register the Spiderlift brand and The Spiderlift Company.

SafeWorks sued for trademark infringement and a bench trial found that 'spiderlift' infringed on SafeWork's Spider trademark.

Teupen USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Teupen GmbH of Gronau, Germany which manufactures the Leo series of track-mounted, outrigger-supported aerial work platforms, confirms that neither Teupen USA nor Teupen GmbH is a party in the recent trademark infringement case.

Teupen America LLC (which changed its name in March 2009 to Mini Lift USA, LLC) and Extreme Access Solutions is the original dealer of these products in the US market, but are and have always been separate and unaffiliated companies from Teupen GmbH and Teupen USA, Inc. Extreme Access Solutions Inc and The Spider Lift Company Inc have been ordered to cease using the name and to pay fines equivalent to their net profits during the period of infringement (from August 2004 to December 31, 2009) and also SafeWorks' legal fees.

The defendants were given 20 days from the verdict to take to stop using Spiderlifts domain name, to destroy all materials that infringe on Spider, and to abandon its federal trademark application for The Spiderlift Company.

Lenny Polonski, president of Extreme Access Solutions, was contacted by American Lift & Handlers (ALH) for his comments on the story but he had not responded at the time of publication.