Yahoo and American Express are on the wrong end of a lawsuit after two entrepreneurs accused them of stealing their online travel business idea.
Tyler Strateman and Samuel Deutsch allege in the complaint that they came up with the idea for Insider Escapes, a Web platform for affluent travelers, and then pitched it to American Express. Their idea, according to MediaPost.com, was intended to offer subscribers "access to unique and personalized travel experiences inspired and sometimes hosted by a collective of influential insiders and tastemakers."
The two developed a beta site for the initiative and showed it to American Express in May 2012, hoping to form a joint venture with the company -- but four months later American Express and Yahoo launched their own travel initiative, with a similar name -- Insider Express.
"This is a case of egregious theft of a novel and innovative business idea in the travel industry, made worse by the misappropriation of a unique and distinctive name for that business: Insider Escapes," they allege in their complaint, as reported by MediaPost.com.
Stateman and Deutsch said, according to MediaPost.com, that their service is similar to the Insider Express, because they both offer "entire, easy-to-purchase travel experiences and the experiences are 'inspired' by celebrity travelers' recommendations."
Their lawsuit, transferred to California's federal court last week, alleges that American Express and Yahoo infringed the Insider Express trademark, misappropriated ideas and breached an implied contract, according to MediaPost.com.
"Amex's representatives were placed in a position of trust by plaintiff's representatives throughout the parties' discussions, during which time plaintiff's representatives conveyed their business plans to defendant Amex, including marketing strategy, forecasted business demand, business processes, information about business relationships, and information resulting from plaintiffs extensive market research and analysis," according to the lawsuit obtained by MediaPost.com.
Yahoo and American Express did not respond to MediaPost.com's requests for comment.
This is not the first time Yahoo was on the receiving end of a lawsuit alleging misappropriated ideas, according to MediaPost.com. In a case that is currently pending in Manhattan's federal court, the New York-based author Steven Faktor sued Yahoo and the non-profit group Score for allegedly stealing the idea for the online reality series, "Remake America," the website reported.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
