WEX Granted Injunction Against HP

WEX, a global payment and information service provider based in Portland, has been granted a preliminary injunction against HP in a trademark infringement lawsuit.

WEX was founded in 1983 as Wright Express Corporation initially and later changed its corporate name to the current “WEX” in 2012, which has been its brand ever since. However, in March 2024, HP introduced its “Workforce Experience Platform”, an AI-Powered platform for technology updates and cybersecurity, which was branded exactly as “WEX”.

On April 11, WEX filed a federal lawsuit against HP and sought an injunction the following day. Meanwhile, after announcing this solution, HP publicly invited businesses to participate in a private beta test, which took place last month in June. Despite this, no participants raised concerns about the potentially confusing brand name.

U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock presided over the case, heard both parties’ arguments and issued his opinions this month, which granted a full preliminary injunction as WEX requested and banned HP from using the “WEX” brand for the duration of the litigation. According to Woodcock, the case was quite evident as “the marks at the issue are nearly identical” and “plaintiff’s marks are strong”.

Woodcock also mentioned that WEX might suffer “irreparable harm” without the injunction, given HP’s plans to launch its products prior to the proceeding of the case. In HP’s original plan, another public beta test will be conducted in September, and the product will be launched in full in March 2025. However, the trial on this matter is set to begin as early as July 2, 2025, two months after the planned launch.

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