H&R Block Continues Lawsuit Against Intuit Over Commercials

The U.S. District Court of Western Missouri will not grant a preliminary injunction barring Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU  ) from continuing to run TurboTax commercials that H&R Block (NYSE: HRB  ) says misuse the H&R Block brand and unfairly disparage H&R Block tax professionals.

H&R Block announced the court's decision this week.

H&R Block brought the suit against Intuit based on what it alleges is the "unlawful misuse of the H&R Block brand and trademark." At issue is Intuit's assertion that H&R Block employs individuals with little to no tax preparation experience.

H&R Block filed the lawsuit Jan. 23, alleging Intuit, the maker of TurboTax software, aired commercials that were, "based on a campaign that allegedly includes false and misleading advertising, unfair competition and infringement of its legally protected trademarks in TurboTax television commercials."

In response to the court's ruling, Dan Maurer, general manager and senior vice president of Intuit's consumer tax group, was quoted by Intuit as saying, "For the second time, the court has rejected H&R Block's attempts to pull advertisements that make clear to taxpayers that TurboTax hires only CPAs, Enrolled Agents and tax attorneys to assist Americans as they prepare their own tax returns."

H&R Block says it will continue to pursue the lawsuit in court.