But Shell Oil Co. sure did. Outraged that Canadian American Oil Co. Inc. is selling a competing product under its canopy, the oil giant filed suit, claiming the alternative gasoline infringes its trademark. Dubbed “Touchless,” like the station’s adjacent car wash, the brand currently costs 12 cents a gallon less than Shell’s.
The licensee is using the Shell brand “to attract customers and switch them to his brand, ” said Shell attorney D. Peter Harvey, of Harvey Siskind Jacobs. “ Someone driving down the street sees the Shell sign and pulls in. If they saw “Touchless” by itself they would never pull in.”
