Canadian U Box It wins u-u-uge trademark battle over American U-Haul

OTTAWA — A family-owned Canadian garbage business is claiming victory over huge American moving company U-Haul International in a David-versus-Goliath battle involving whose U-themed brands deserve trademark protection in Canada.

The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court ruling denying U-Haul two trademarks because they too closely resemble the brand of U Box It, a small waste management services company in the Greater Toronto Area.

Both U-Haul and U Box It supply large boxes or bins to be filled by customers and then hauled away — although U-Haul boxes are delivered to the customers’ new address and U Box It’s bins go to landfill sites.

U-Haul applied in October 2009 to register four trademarks in Canada. Two that contain the name U-Haul were accepted: U-Haul U-Box and U-Haul U-Box We-Haul.