The Daily sues The Daily

Joe Pompeo
·Media Reporter

Late last month, it appeared that IMG Publishing, which owns fashion industry magazine The Daily, was ready to go after News Corp. for its identically named iPad newspaper, which is scheduled to launch in early 2011.

"We are very, very concerned about this," IMG's vice president and editor-in-chief told Forbes' Jeff Bercovici. "Not only is there confusion, but we are also already seeing a dilution of our trademark due to [News Corp. Chairman Rupert] Murdoch's use of The Daily. ... We turned this matter over to our lawyers."

But now News Corp. is going after IMG, slapping the fashion publisher with a lawsuit Thursday "seeking a court ruling that The Daily won't infringe IMG's trademark for its fashion publication, The Daily Front Row," Bloomberg reports.

The two companies had a meeting Thursday, according to the complaint, during which IMG indicated that a lawsuit "was imminent." News Corp. apparently beat it to the punch.

The complaint argues: "Given their generic nature, the words 'the daily' simply cannot constitute a trademark for a publication."

An IMG spokesman declined to comment. But you can view the suit on Scribd, via Reuters federal courts reporter Basil Katz.

(Photo of News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch: AP)