|
|
Enron Mail |
McGraw-Hill Sues Vanguard For Alleged Trademark Infringement On New Funds
06/08/2000 Dow Jones Business News (Copyright © 2000, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- McGraw-Hill Cos., on behalf of its Standard & Poor's Corp. unit, has filed a lawsuit in federal court charging the Vanguard Group Inc. with breach of contract and trademark infringement in connection with the mutual fund company's proposed new Vipers exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. McGraw-Hill's suit alleges Vanguard breached the companies' 1988 license agreement by using Standard & Poor's proprietary indices and trademarks for the Vipers exchange-traded products without permission. Officials from Vanguard, the nation's second largest fund firm, weren't immediately available to comment on the lawsuit. Exchange-traded funds are a hybrid version of index mutual funds that can be bought or sold during the day at market prices instead of at the once-daily 4 p.m. price used by traditional mutual funds. ETFs are single shares of stock that replicate an index such as the Standard & Poor's 500. Standard & Poor's currently has more than 400 license agreements for uses of its indices and trademarks, including agreements related to ETFs, according to McGraw-Hill. McGraw-Hill wants to prevent Vanguard from using S&P's indices and trademarks in connection with Vipers or any other exchange-traded security. The complaint also seeks an order requiring Vanguard to withdraw its Securities and Exchange Commission application for Vipers, and seeks an order declaring Vanguard liable for unspecified damages and attorneys' fees. McGraw-Hill's complaint states that Vipers differ significantly from shares of the open-end mutual funds that Vanguard offered under the 1988 agreement. (This report was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires) Copyright © 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|