Sudbury business owner says copy cat business costing her money

'Copy cat' frustrates Sudbury business A woman who runs an escape room business in Sudbury says a company in Owen Sound is copying her logo and business model.

A woman who runs an escape room business in Sudbury is unhappy because she says a company in Owen Sound is copying her logo and business model.

Meagan Grant says it’s affecting her bottom line. Grant owns the escape room business called PUZZLED in the city.

She said the logo used by an Owen Sound firm is obviously similar to the one her company uses.

"I can’t speak to their intent, I just only know that there have been real-world implications for the choice for me," Grants said.

"Which is incredibly disappointing and the response has been disappointing."

Grant found out about the other location when she was notified by some customers that they had to cancel their bookings because they thought they were booking with the Owen Sound business.

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"I’m incurring processing fees of credit card payments online, staffing costs for bookings that aren’t real and then of course booked time slot that I can no longer put other people in," she said.

"As I’m turning people away saying I have no more availability, I have this booking that isn’t real. So I’d say every time this incident occurs, it costs me about $150."

Puzzled has been in operation for the last seven years. Grant said taking legal action over the problem would cost her thousands of dollars.

A Cambrian College law professor said there may be legal protection in place that Grant could rely on.

"Unregistered names and logos are still protected under the law from confusing use," said Gianluca De Gasperi Delpino.

"You can also search the federal database of trademark registration for any registered trademarks and again here the concern is not just identical trademarks but also confusing words and logos, as well."

And he said businesses should be on the lookout even after they’ve established themselves.

"If you let the offending behaviour go on for long enough, then the other party could raise that as a defence if you ever did protect your unregistered trademark," said De Gasperi Delpino.

Grant said she paid several hundred dollars to have a cease and desist letter sent to the Owen Sound company, but got an e-mail back saying the name will not be changed.

CTV News asked the owners of 'Pzzld' in Owen Sound for comment, but those requests went unanswered.