The nation’s largest owner of broadcast television stations has taken a former employee to federal court, accusing her of trademark infringement. The matter could find the woman “Cruisin'” down a costly, litigious Connecticut road.
Nexstar Media Group filed its claim earlier this week in a Connecticut U.S. District Court against Taylored Media Group, a six-year-old business founded by Jamie Taylor.
Taylor began her career at WFSB-3 in Hartford in late 2008, following her graduation from the University of Connecticut in Storrs. After 4 1/2 years at a media consultant, she joined WTNH-8 in New Haven as an Account Executive.
According to Nexstar, Taylor’s role included seeking advertisers for a WTNH segment called “Cruisin’ Connecticut,” and that her role began under LIN Media, extended to Media General ownership, and concluded under Nexstar control of the ABC affiliate serving all of Connecticut except Fairfield County, which is within the New York DMA.
The “Cruisin’ Connecticut” segment continues today at WTNH, and that’s why Nexstar believes the launch of Taylored Media Group upon her December 2019 exit from the TV station is problematic. With Taylor hanging a shingle and starting her own business, she filed a trademark application for “Cruisin’ CT.”
Nexstar believes that’s a direct infringement on its existing WTNH brand segment, with Taylor’s “Cruisin’ CT” — with reports dating to January 2025 — focused on “hidden gems so you can cruise CT with confidence.”
On the website, Taylor explains, “We started Cruisin’ CT as a way to share our adventures and inspire others to explore the roads less traveled. Sponsored by the Connecticut Car Wash Association, our page is all about celebrating the unique charm and character of Connecticut’s lesser-known spots while keeping our rides in tip-top shape.”
That’s unsettling to Nexstar, with the company assailing Taylor for using the Cruisin’ CT brand to promote and market local businesses and locations as well as sell marketing and advertising services, just as Taylor did while she worked at WTNH. “The name is the same and the logo [used is] confusingly similar to the Nexstar/WTNH ‘Cruisin’ Connecticut’
segments,” Nexstar claims.
On May 19, a Cease and Desist letter was sent by Nexstar to Taylor. According to Nexstar, Taylored Media didn’t respond nor abide by the C&D request. Instead, on June 8, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office received a filing for a trademark application for “Cruisin’ CT.” The next day, Nexstar received communication from attorney Jamie Sternberg of trademark and copyright-focused law firm Saunders & Silverstein LLP, who is representing Taylored Media. In the letter, Sternberg shared that Taylored would not be ceasing the use of the trademark “Cruisin’ Connecticut” because there was no infringement and that Taylor “is free to use its name and logo wherever it chooses.”
A federal judge will decide whether or not that is indeed the case. And, key to the court’s final judgment is the fact that Nexstar, in its own petition, reveals that it did not move forward with a USPTO filing for “Cruisin’ Connecticut” until June 30. For some, that could make Taylor’s similar-yet-unique defense stand.
Counts in the Nexstar lawsuit against Taylor include “false designation of origin”; trademark infringement and unfair competition; and a violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.
There is a demand for a jury trial, with Nexstar represented by Dallas-based Melissa LaBauve; Boca Raton, Fla.-based Amanda Greenspon; and Los Angeles-based Jenifer Wallis of Munck Wilson Mandala LLP.
