Philadelphia-based investment manager CenterSquare has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against data center firm Centersquare.
Centersquare was formed in April this year, when Brookfield merged Cyxtera and Evoque under the new brand.
The lawsuit, filed on August 24, includes allegations of cybersquatting, or using a domain name too similar to a protected trademark with the intent to profit from the lack of distinction, as reported by Pere News.
A summons was issued and delivered on December 15, 2024.
Both companies have data center platforms, with CenterSquare having invested in multiple listed data center firms.
Brookfield is not the defendant in the case. Dawn Acquisitions, a data center firm backed by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, is named in legal filings.
In legal filings obtained by DCD, CenterSquare said it “has suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable loss of income, profits, and goodwill, and Dawn has and will continue to unfairly acquire income, profits, and goodwill.”
E Todd Briddell, CEO at CenterSquare Investment, said: “We have raised, and continue to raise, significant capital to invest directly in businesses similar to Centersquare. We have heard from investors, property owners, and other intermediaries confused by the two entities. Our employees have been mistaken at conferences and business meetings as being associated with the wrong business.”
Briddell added that Brookfield’s Centersquare has hurt his firm’s brand from a digital marketing perspective because the domain name is too similar.
Brookfield’s Centersquare has sustained in legal filings that there is no overlap between the businesses, with CEO Spencer Mullee citing the trademark registration as evidence.
He said: “Centersquare believes there is ample room for both companies to thrive without conflict, given our different markets and offerings. We are confident that our businesses, and use of trademark, can peacefully coexist.”
In the case that the companies do not come to a resolution, the next step would be to enter mediation. Failing that, the case will go to trial.
Brookfield Infrastructure’s data center portfolio includes DCI Data Centers in APAC, Data4 in Europe, and Compass Data Centers in North America, among others.
It formed Evoque in 2019 after acquiring AT&T’s data center and colocation assets. At the time of combination, it operated around a dozen facilities across the US. It exited its international facilities in 2022, leaving some ten sites. Cyxtera was acquired by Brookfield in 2023. The two were then merged under the Centersquare brand in April.
CenterSquare Investment Management invested in Aligned Data Centers in April, just a few days before the formation of Centersquare. The company claims to have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in data center firms, according to CEO E Todd Briddell.