Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Sues Las Vegas Company for Trademark Infringement
Jackson, MS — Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society announced today that it has filed suit against Las Vegas-based HonorSociety.org, Inc. in United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. The lawsuit alleges that HonorSociety.org, a for-profit enterprise, has knowingly and willfully violated PTK registered trademarks and used visual identity, website and regalia items that too-closely resemble those of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.
Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner, President and CEO of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, said, “Phi Theta Kappa has invested significant resources over the past 104 years building and protecting our valued identity as the officially recognized honor society serving students of associate-degree granting colleges, a distinction it has held since 1929.”
Tincher-Ladner continued, “As a for-profit enterprise, HonorSociety.org has deliberately confused students and diluted the value of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society membership by knowingly using a visual identity, marketing materials, regalia and online content which are strikingly similar to those of Phi Theta Kappa. The company has misled countless students into believing they were joining Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society when they were not.”
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society has received more than one hundred complaints from students who say they were misled by HonorSociety.org into believing they were joining PTK. The number and scope of the complaints has prompted the organization to seek a legal remedy to protect its valuable marks, brand and reputation.
“We have a duty to all high-achieving community college students and the more than 1,000 colleges we serve, in the United States and globally, to vigorously protect Phi Theta Kappa’s well-earned reputation and trademarks from those who would seek to profit by imitating us,” Tincher-Ladner added. “We encourage anyone who believes they have been misled by this company to contact their state attorney general’s office or the Better Business Bureau.”
About Phi Theta Kappa
Phi Theta Kappa is the premier honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is made up of more than 3.8 million members and nearly 1,300 chapters in 10 countries, with approximately 240,000 active members in the nation’s colleges. Learn more at ptk.org.