Dive Brief:
- Instacart is facing a trademark infringement lawsuit over its new app, Fizz, from social media and event planning platform company Fizz Social Corp.
- The complaint, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that the grocery technology company and Partiful, which has an integration of Instacart’s Fizz app, are using “a mark identical to Plaintiff’s” to compete against Fizz Social for the same Generation Z demographic.
- The lawsuit came one day after Instacart unveiled the new standalone app, which has an integration with Partiful, that allows event hosts and guests to make group delivery orders.
Dive Insight:
Fizz Social claims that Instacart’s new app not only bears a name that could confuse consumers, but also targets the same Gen Z cohort with a similar focus on social events.
“Defendants’ unauthorized use of the FIZZ Marks is not only likely to cause confusion … it also constitutes bad faith,” Fizz Social said in its complaint, alleging that Instacart knew or should have known about Fizz Social but chose to use a similar name “in an effort to misleadingly divert consumers.”
The complaint also claims that trademarks submitted for Instacart’s Fizz app “cover nearly identical subject matter” as Fizz Social’s trademark applications for the “Fizz” marks. Fizz Social is requesting a jury trial for the case.
Fizz Social and Instacart declined to comment on the lawsuit. Partiful did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Unveiled last week, Instacart’s Fizz app lets customers ages 21 and older place a consolidated order for one address. The launch boosts Instacart’s presence in the party-planning space as the grocery technology company continues to find ways to reach digitally engaged shoppers.
Fizz Social, which was founded at Stanford University and is now based in New York City, runs a platform that allows college students and young people across the U.S. to find parties, organize gatherings and coordinate social events. The company also has a marketplace for buying and selling items. The company has raised at least $41.5 million in funding, including a Series B round of $25 million in 2023, according to market research and data platform Tracxn.
Fizz Social claims that it has been the owner of the “Fizz” name since at least early January 2022 and that the marks have become “a distinctive identifier” of its brand and services. However, the complaint also notes that Fizz filed for trademark registration in 2024 and that the application is still pending.
In 2023, Fizz sued rival Sidechat over unfair competition practices, TechCrunch reported.
