The newly opened Denver Book Society is suing a California bookstore, Book Society, and asking a federal judge to stop the company’s trademark application, according to a court filing.
Attorneys for the bookshop at 1700 Humboldt St. filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Friday, stating the Denver store wants a court ruling that the Berkeley-based Book Society does not have ownership of that phrase.
This is not the first time Denver Book Society owner Rich Garvin has encountered pushback over the new store’s name – a book swap organization started in 2022 called the Denver Book Swap Society also shared concerns about the similar names before Garvin’s store opened in February.
Garvin said in March that by the time he learned of the organization, it was too late to change the name.
In the lawsuit, attorneys with the Denver law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck state that Book Society officials refused to “reasonably negotiate” and “made baseless litigation threats” against DBS during the dispute.
“DBS is entitled to declaratory judgment that it is not infringing any trademark of Defendant or engaging in any act constituting unfair competition,” the lawsuit states.
According to the complaint, Book Society sent DBS a cease and desist notice in February with demands that the Denver store cease operations and remove signs, merchandise and social media handles.
But attorneys for the Denver store said it’s unlikely the stores will be confused and that Book Society hasn’t been harmed by the DBS name.
Book Society officials gave a different perspective in a statement to The Denver Post on Saturday, stating that similarities between the Berkeley store, which was founded in 2023, and the Denver Book Society extend beyond the names and into branding, concept and language used to talk about each establishment.
Federal records show the California store filed for a trademark application in August 2024, and the name did not receive any opposition when it was published in the Trademark Official Gazette in June.
Book Society’s trademark application was listed as pending as of Saturday.
According to the statement, Book Society first reached out to Denver Book Society in April 2025, Garvin visited the Berkeley shop in July and Book Society sent Garvin a notice of the pending trademark application in August.
The name Book Society was deliberately chosen and carries distinct connotations of membership, belonging and community, the California company said in a statement.
“Book Society LLC’s pending federal trademark application covers precisely the category of business — a bookstore with wine service and membership programming — that Denver Book Society operates,” company officials said.
A spokesperson for Denver Book Society could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
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