Westar Systems Sues Rival Over Name, Trademark
- Share via
SANTA ANA — Westar Systems Inc., an Orange County corporate security systems supplier, filed a $15-million lawsuit against a Kansas competitor Tuesday, accusing the firm of improperly using its name and star-shaped trademark.
Westar filed the suit against Western Resources Inc. in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, seeking $10 million in actual damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
A spokesman for Western Resources could not be reached for comment.
Santa Ana-based Westar, founded in 1989, provides custom security systems to Fortune 100 companies, said Steve Herring, president of the firm.
The company’s trademark is registered with the California secretary of state.
In 1995, Western Resources filed a federal application to register a star-shaped trademark. The application is pending before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Herring said.
Among the business names Western Resources uses, Herring said, are Westar Security and Westsec. The company has offices in Santa Ana, Canoga Park, Palm Springs, Rancho Cucamonga and other cities.
“I think they probably just liked our name, and when a $6-billion company likes a name, maybe they don’t care who gets stepped on,” Herring said of the similarity between Westar Security and his own company’s Westar Systems.
