by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
Sovereign Funding Group's disregard for others' trade marked or copyrighted images and marks continues with its use of ""Mario" from the Nintendo Mario Brother's game to imply an endorsement of its products. The video is titled " Mario Brother's Mario Gives HIS OPINION and purports to show that Mario thinks highly of Sovereign Funding Group. Mario is of course subject to licensing by Nintendo of America, Inc. and no attribution is given to Nintendo by Sovereign Funding Group for the use of Nintendo's mark or copyrights in advertising that is being used in interstate commerce. Isn't it time that Nintendo "Kong's this donkey"? Nintendo has only been using "Mario" for 31 years!
Previously we reported on other tasteless advertising by Sovereign Funding which included an implied endorsement by "The Dolly Parton". Sovereign Funding yanked the ad after we reported about it on December 17, 2011.
Sovereign Funding Group and its CEO, David Springer, of Mt. Airy, Maryland were both named Defendants in separate lawsuits filed by JG Wentworth and Woodbridge Structured Funding (filed in the state and federal courts in Maryland respectively), alleging trademark infringement and defamation, using deceptive practices. It has been alleged that Sovereign Funding and David Springer were behind the We Buy Payments.Net re-direct scheme that plagued the structured settlement industry last year, including major insurers Pacfic Life and MetLife where half the search results on the first page of Google were at one point affected by the re-direct scheme
J. G. Wentworth also alleged in its lawsuits that David Springer and Sovereign Funding Group operate or operated the "scam" and "sucks" websites attacking that company.
Sovereign Funding Group also blatantly misrepresents what factoring structured settlements really is with Sovereign making the "patently" false and misleading claim that factoring of structured settlements means you get "cash on steroids". Slicing through the heart of his company's own ridiculous premise, CEO David Springer issued a press release on October 29, 2011 in which he stated "Companies like Sovereign Funding make this possible by purchasing the settlement for a percentage of the whole amount. The recipient receives the entire lump sum minus the fee for the service". Steroids are supposed to make you bigger, not cause shrinkage, right?
In its complaint filed in October 2011, J. G. Wentworth referred to Sovereign Funding Group as a "fringe player" in the structured settlement purchasing market. On March 2, 2012, the parties to the J.G. Wentworth law suit v David Springer and Sovereign Funding Group, executed a Joint Stipulation of Dismissal With Prejudice.
While I once thought that David Springer was an upstanding player in the factoring market (circa early 2008), unfortunately, in recent times, the crown jewels have become tarnished. Sovereign Funding Group, under Springer's leadership, has shown a propensity to "slither" outside the lines in an effort to achieve success and sets an extremely poor example for the factoring industry, in my opinion.
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