Armstrong Foundation Claims Infringement

Friday, September 14th 2007, 6:25 pm

By: News On 6

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The Lance Armstrong Foundation has sued an Oklahoma man, alleging his animal charity's pet collars infringe on the foundation's trademark yellow LiveStrong wristbands.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Texas seeks to stop Tulsa-based Animal Charity Collar Group from using the phrases Barkstrong and Purrstrong, the yellow bands and the website barkstrong.net.

It also seeks unspecified monetary damages and the cancellation of the company's Purrstrong trademark and its pending application for the Barkstrong trademark.

Animal Charity Collar Group makes the collars for animal rescue groups to sell. It also sells the collars on its website.

Armstrong, a seven-time winner of the Tour de France, started the foundation bearing his name in 1997 after recovering from advanced testicular cancer.

Chris Ohman, the chief executive officer of Animal Charity Collar Group, says the glow-in-the-dark pet collars were his company's idea and are not something that could be confused with the LiveStrong bracelets.