GIA Gets Belgian Court to Rule Against Use of ‘AIG’

[PinkDiamond]

I don't know about you, but it never occurred to me that AIG was GIA in reverse, but even so, there are many companies that share the same letters. The ISG, International School of Gemology, shares the same letters as the IGS, International Gem Society, and would be more easily confused than AIG with GIA; yet GIA managed to persuade this judge that they were damaged by the confusion created by having the same letters in a different order, so to me this is just GIA once again trying to get rid of the competition, and I hope AIG can and does appeal it.

GIA Gets Belgian Court to Rule Against Use of ‘AIG’
By Rob Bates | April 14, 2021



"A court in Antwerp, Belgium, has ordered the AIG Belgium grading lab to stop using the initials AIG, finding that they infringe on GIA’s trademarks, according to a GIA statement.

AIG—which is, of course, GIA spelled backward—operates American International Gemological Laboratories and Antwerp International Gemological Laboratories. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

At the time of publication, AIG’s website listed branch offices in Belgium; Ramat Gan, Israel; London; New York City; Los Angeles; Houston; and Milan, where it appears to be based.

The Belgian judge ruled that the use of the name AIG constituted an “attempt to sail on the success of GIA’s marks,” according to GIA. JCK has not been provided with a copy of the decision.

The court imposed penalty payments of up to 500,000 euros for use of the now-prohibited mark, GIA said.

The GIA statement said that AIG’s period of appeal expired on March 25, and GIA is now pursuing an adjacent case regarding AIG-related entities in Israel. GIA didn’t respond to a question about whether it will take, or has taken, similar action in the United States.

For years, a lab called American International Gemologists operated out of California, with a mailing address in Georgia. It did appraisals for Diamond Nexus and Bidz.com.

American International Gemologists filed for Chapter 7 in 2010. However, while California state records list the company as active, its website is currently offline.

“The global gem and jewelry trade and consumers around the world rely on the independence of GIA’s science-based gemological reports and the industry-leading quality of GIA education,” said Jennifer Wilson, GIA general counsel and senior vice president, in the GIA statement. “When others attempt to ... "
https://www.jckonline.com/editorial-art ... ainst-aig/