Dispute now goes to court

The dispute between the AHMA and Reed Exhibitions, which were previously partners and are now rival trade fair organisers, is being carried over into the courtroom as well. The American Manufacturers Association has brought a lawsuit in a federal district court in Chicago, making the following three allegations: that Reed artificially inflated costs for individual exhibitors at the 2003 National Hardware Show, which was the final jointly organised event; that it falsely padded registration figures for a competing show, the National Hardware Show that is about to be staged in competition with the AHMA fair; and that it violated the AHMA’s trademark.