WeWork settles trademark lawsuits against Chinese rival UrWork

Co-working giant WeWork has settled a trademark lawsuit against Chinese rival UrWork, according to documents filed in federal court Monday.

WeWork filed a suit in September after UrWork — which is valued at more than $1 billion and has 99 locations in China according to TechCrunch — announced plans to enter the New York market. WeWork alleged that the name and branding were too similar and that customers would confuse them.

In July, UrWork announced a partnership with co-working company Serendipity Labs to open a co-branded location in the Financial District. The two firms signed a 16-year deal for a 34,000-square-foot space at Fosun International’s 28 Liberty Street. UrWork, which was founded by Mao Daqing in 2015, also has plans to expand to Los Angeles and London.

UrWork Argued That The Court should dismiss WeWork’s suit, saying they never claimed to use UrWork branding in their U.S. branches. In fact, their Los Angeles location, where they opened a 300-desk space at 16839 Gale Avenue, will be branded with only its Chinese name, “You Ke Gong Chang,” according to court documents.

WeWork and UrWork informed the court they were working to settle in early December, and the case was dismissed Monday without cost and without prejudice. The terms of the settlement are not known, and a similar case between the two parties in London has also been withdrawn.

UrWork has withdrawn both trademark applications that were at issue in the case, for a logo with the letters “UR” on a circular background, as of December 15. The firm’s legal representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement from WeWork, the co-working company said that the parties had reached “an amicable resolution to the global dispute regarding the use of certain trademarks.”