Albany Med sues New York State Nurses Association

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Albany Medical Center is suing the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) for trademark infringement in the United States District Court's Northern District of New York. The court documents said that Albany Med is also suing for domain name misappropriation and dilution.

NYSNA said that this lawsuit is about the website the organization started, titled Albany Med: Invest in Care for Our Community!, where NYSNA stated that it informs the public "about the crisis of understaffing in the hospital." The organization says it shares information that the hospital would rather keep from public view.

Court documents said that Albany Med has the rights to its name and has had the Albany Medical Center Word Mark registered since 2017. It also stated that the hospital has used, and continues to use this name for advertising and sale of goods and services, which the hospital spends large sums of money doing.

The nurse's association claims that this money spent on advertising and redesigning the Albany Med website shows that the hospital "prioritizes its profits over patient care and safe staffing."

Albany Med argues that NYSNA's website is an unauthorized use of the Albany Med name. The hospital also alleges that the nurses association uses the name in connection with the sale, offer for sale, distribution, and advertising of its services and activities.

NYSNA is a labor union for its members, consisting of registered nurses. The union and the hospital have been in ongoing contract negotiations because the nurses are demanding a fair contract. The nurses have been without a contract since August 1.