Roche’s Spark Therapeutics, a biotech focused on gene-therapies for blood disorders, has accused rival Bluebird Bio of using its trademarks without permission.
In a complaint filed Monday in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, Roche sought cash compensation and court orders blocking Bluebird from further unauthorized use of “Spark” marks.
Roche is suing Bluebird for using its trademark in marketing campaigns. Specifically, Spark called out Bluebird's recently launched campaign called “Be the Spark” for sickle cell disease, housed at sparksicklecellchange.com. Roche wants Bluebird to stop using the domain — and transfer it and anything else containing “Spark,” to Roche.
While one of Bluebird’s focuses is gene-therapy treatments for blood disorder sickle cell anemia — not an area of focus for Spark, according to the drugmaker's compliant, sickle cell anemia is researched and treated by same doctors and scientists who work on hemophilia.
Read the Bloomberg Law coverage