TIME’S UP: Troutman Amin, LLP Will be Suing Symple Lending Tomorrow And It Didn’t Have to Be This Way

3 Comments

As everyone will tell ya, I’m a nice guy.

The nicest.

Almost too nice.

For instance, when I found out Symple Lending– at least one of whose founders has a very interesting background that the Court will soon hear all about– was using a logo that looks incredibly similar to my precious lion logo I reached out and tried to resolve it peacefully.

These guys are in Irvine, California. They know who we are.

All they had to do was say “yeah, my bad” and agree to stop using it and it would have been fine. No muss. No fuss. No fees. No pain.

But instead they give us the blowoff treatment. And even try to tell us to keep quiet about it. Here’s the actual response from their counsel:

Yeah. Fat chance.

Here’s the thing, we have poured our hearts and souls into this wonderful little lion logo. It has become a symbol of something incredibly trustworthy, pure and powerful.

It is synonymous not only with winning– but the right kind of winning.

And this is so because of the hard work and integrity every member of this firm has displayed in every professional effort since the day the firm was founded.

And sure we have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars– perhaps over a million now– promoting the lion logo.

It famously greets visitors at John Wayne Airport.

It has changed the course of sports history.

It adorns the Duck’s hockey rink.

It welcomes visitors to the Troutman Amin, LLP Newport Beach International Boat show.

Its helped to push a NHRA race car driver to his absolute peak.

It adorns the hundreds of hats and T-shirts we give away each year at events across the nation but PARTICULARLY here at the Irvine Global Village festival.

Let’s face it, it is IMPOSSIBLE to live in Irvine, California and not get a warm fuzzy wonderful feeling when you see that lion logo all over town.

It is a symbol of safety and trust.

Symple as that.

And they’re trying to steal that sense of safety and trust and trick consumers into thinking their products are safe and trustworthy and backed by Troutman Amin, LLP.

That’s my opinion at least, and I don’t see how anyone can possibly disagree with that.

And there’s no way I’m going to let the value of the lion logo and the Troutman brand be diminished by association with…

Well, you’ll have to wait until the filings to get the full flavor here.

But you will.

Everyone will.

In a federal courthouse.

And in press releases to follow.

And, of course, on TCPAWorld.

Like I said, I tried to be nice.

Didn’t have to be this way.

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Published by Eric "Czar" Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

3 Comments

  1. So, the major question that is NOT addressed here (if not the most important) is who registered it first – who has the legal right to said item…it’s not so relevant that you spent a ton of $$ putting it up all over Irvine/OC if they had it first (well unless your Disney). Hey I’m not a trademark specialist – but I do know how to search them out…

    Here’s yours – well done:
    https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=97539890&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch

    So while their name/logo is registered I’m not gonna peruse 3,400+ trademarks to search out their possible, just maybe version of said lion…
    https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=97664778&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch

    Maybe the most telling is the fine print on their home page: https://symplelending.com/

    “Personal loan offers provided to customers who originated via a paid Google or Bing advertisement feature rate quotes on Symple Lending of no greater than 35.99% APR with terms from 61 days to 180 months.”

    No GREATER than 35% well that’s a relief!!

    Can’t wait to see the court filings!!

    Reply

  2. I am behind you 100 percent on this one, Czar. I was in the same position once about 40 years ago. Some more fuel for the fire: I have received robocalls from the same name and, until now, had not been able to identify the source (the ‘y’ in Symple threw me). Thanks for helping me ID my culprit!

    Reply

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