Northwell Health's marketing leader called trademark infringement allegations from NYU Langone Health "absurd" and a "waste of time" after a judge dismissed the complaint March 1.
NYU Langone Health sued Northwell Health in June 2023, claiming the latter had copied the color purple and font it uses in marketing materials and committed false advertising when it claimed to be "NYC's only hospital in the Nation's Top 50." A federal judge in New York threw out the lawsuit but left some of the allegations open to be refiled.
"From a marketer's perspective, I don't understand, really, the waste of time and resources pursuing these claims in the first place," Ramon Soto, chief marketing and communications officer of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, told Becker's. "The need or desire to follow anybody is just not within our DNA and who we are. We really do try to communicate with consumers on their terms about health issues that are important to them and that serve to distinguish Northwell from our competitors. So it's absurd on its face."
New York City-based NYU Langone had claimed that Northwell's use of purple-and-white-heavy advertising was "confusingly similar" to the color scheme NYU had used for years and had followed NYU Langone's expansion into Long Island, where Northwell is based.
"From my point of view, they have no filed claim to the color purple," Mr. Soto said. "If it truly is a trademark right of theirs, then they should protect the asset. There is literally no trademark filing for NYU Langone and any color, period."
Mr. Soto said Northwell uses a "mosaic" of 16 colored triangles in its main logo, then deploys the colors in specific marketing materials based on the situation.
"We call it the constellation," he said. "It's really meant to represent the diversity of our system and how we come together and unify and try to move healthcare in a different direction. It's very distinct and very different than any of our competitors in the New York market."
"The thing to really focus on is the cherry-picking nature with which they tried to present this claim and pull on certain hats out of literally thousands of ads that we've created over time to try to paint the picture," he added. "That's really a false narrative of how we market ourselves."
The false advertising claim stemmed from Northwell saying it is "NYC's only hospital in the
Nation's Top 50," referring to rankings from Healthgrades, and "offer[s] the best care in Manhattan." NYU Langone claimed that Healthgrades "relies on inaccurate and incomplete reporting" and noted that U.S. News & World Report ranked its health system as No. 1 in New York. But the judge ruled that neither of those points makes Northwell's statement false and that claiming to offer the "best care" is subjective.
The judge, however, dismissed only two of the counts with prejudice, meaning NYU Langone could bring back the remaining allegations.
"In its ruling last week, the court agreed that NYU Langone could have an actionable claim against Northwell and has allowed us to file a motion to amend our complaint," an NYU Langone spokesperson emailed Becker's. "We brought this claim to protect NYU Langone’s exceptional reputation, which includes consistent high ratings and top rankings in quality and safety by the Leapfrog Group, U.S. News & World Report, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Vizient Inc., which named NYU Langone the No. 1 hospital in the nation for quality and patient safety. Unfortunately, Northwell has continued its efforts to confuse patients who deserve the best care and the best outcomes."
Mr. Soto said he was disappointed that "we're continuing to have this conversation" and believes "energy and resources should be placed elsewhere."
"I have a ton of respect for our competitors. And New Yorkers have an embarrassment of riches in terms of who to choose," he said. "That's why we market the way we do, which is for them to know us before they need to focus on the transaction, but really understand the journey that they take. We think that different approach lends ourselves to a different value proposition and a different relationship with consumers. That has worked incredibly well for us. How others choose to deploy their tactics, that's really up to them."