lulu, an online distributer and publisher of digital content, is suing hulu, the nbc universal/news corp. joint online video venture. lulu is accusing them of copyright infringement, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and federal cyberpiracy.

according to the the press release, lulu believes that the name hulu was intentionally chosen to create confusion in the marketplace.

“We have spent more than five years and tens of millions of dollars in investment successfully building the Lulu brand and website into a place or millions of creators and consumers to publish, buy, sell and manage digital content,” said Lulu CEO Bob Young. “It is clear we are required to move quickly to protect our intellectual property and defend ourselves against this infringement before it significantly damages our business.”

this news comes as kind of a surprise considering that nbc universal/news corp. took five months to come up with the name (and have yet to open the service to the public), but at the same time is somewhat expected given that hulu means ‘cease’ and ‘desist’ in swahili.

the zulu were unavailable for comment.

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