Lateral.ly, a startup legal search firm with a novel online platform that has been called the “Tinder” for lawyers and suitor firms, is locked in a bitter trademark battle with larger Los Angeles-based search firm Lateral Link.
On Monday, the upstart firm convinced a federal judge not to block it from using its name, a move that Lateral.ly’s lawyers said would have threatened its core business during peak recruitment season. U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt indicated during a hearing that he would deny Lateral Link the injunction it sought. An injunction would have immediately barred Lateral.ly from using the name on its site or in communications with law firms and associates just as the lateral hiring season reaches its annual peak.
