Monday, June 4, 2012

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is suing a website that sells merchandise with the campaign's signature "O" logo, claiming trademark infringement.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Washington, the committee says Demstore.com is illegally selling products with two of its logos. The first is the campaign's so-called "rising sun" logo, a blue "O" with red and white stripes at the bottom. The other is a 2012 logo that includes the "O."

Lawyers for the campaign are asking the court to stop Demstore.com from using the logo and award damages.

Steve Schwat is the owner of Washington Promotions & Printing Inc., which runs Demstore.com. He says he was disappointed by the lawsuit. He says hundreds of companies make similar products.

The campaign filed a nearly identical lawsuit in Chicago in 2011.