United Airlines has won a lawsuit against a Canadian professor who for the past 20 years has cataloged complaints against the airline on Untied.com.
A judge in Canada’s Federal Court in Ottawa, Ontario, on Friday found the website violates the Chicago-based airline’s trademarks and copyright and granted United an injunction preventing Jeremy Cooperstock, who runs the website, from using the airline’s intellectual property.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision. We have always maintained that Mr. Cooperstock should be able to voice his opinions, and our case was to protect United customers and avoid confusion by asking him to not use our intellectual property on his website and related channels,” United said in an email.
Cooperstock, an engineering professor at McGill University in Montreal, accused the airline of using the case to try to shut down a source of criticism and vowed to appeal.
It’s unclear what the ruling means for the future of Untied.com, which Cooperstock launched in 1997, disgruntled by the airline’s “form letter” response to one of his own complaints.
Since then, he said he’s collected 31,000 complaints from United’s passengers and several hundred from its employees. The website also advises readers on how to complain to, or sue, the airline.
The court said Cooperstock can keep the Untied.com web address, but he said he’s uncertain whether he will be able to continue to use it to post passenger complaints. The judge directed United and Cooperstock to submit reports to begin negotiating the terms of the injunction within 45 days.
. United filed the lawsuit in 2012, alleging the website infringed on its intellectual property and claiming a redesign that more closely mimicked United’s own site could trick consumers into thinking they were filing a complaint with the airline.
At Untied.com, United’s globe logo appears with a frowning face, and the airline is listed as an “evil alliance member,” rather than a “star alliance member.” United has since updated its website, but Cooperstock has also created a “beta” version of Untied that more closely matches the airline’s current website.
Cooperstock said he chose to parody the airline’s website, logos and slogans to “co-opt the original and subvert it.”
“I think there’s great value in humor in getting people to step up and take notice,” he said.
But he’s skeptical travelers could mistake his website for the real thing, especially after he added a pop-up window requiring readers acknowledge they understand the website isn’t United’s before continuing to browse.
In a second lawsuit filed in 2012 in the Superior Court of Quebec, United successfully petitioned to have some senior airline employees’ contact information removed from Untied.com.
When he created Untied.com, Cooperstock said, he posted a statement saying he looked forward to shutting it down when the airline showed it was “treating passengers with a little more dignity.” He did not expect to still be running the website 20 years later, he said.
United CEO Oscar Munoz promised to work on the airline’s reputation with passengers after taking over for Jeff Smisek in 2015. At the time, the airline ranked dead last in customer satisfaction among traditional North American airlines, according to J.D. Power’s 2015 North America Airline Satisfaction Study.
United brought back free snacks, upgraded its international business class and reduced delays. But its reputation took a hit again in April when David Dao, a passenger who refused to give up his seat to make room for airline employees, was dragged from a plane at O’Hare International Airport and Munoz fumbled an initial apology.
Cooperstock, who represented himself in the intellectual property lawsuit, said the lawsuits have not been worth the costs, but “it’s a matter of principle.”
Twitter @laurenzumbach
