Focus Financial Partners is suing a team that left the firm to affiliate through Mariner’s Independent platform, claiming their new moniker infringes on a trademarked name of a Focus subsidiary, with Focus claiming the “likelihood of confusion” is “overwhelming.”
Late last month, Mariner Independent onboarded three former Focus advisors: John Buckingham, Jason Clark and Christopher Quigley, and launched Mosaic Value Partners, with three other employees. The addition was the largest team added to the Mariner platform.
Before the move, the trio had been with Focus Financial Partners’ Kovitz Investment Group Partners since 2018. Kovitz joined and took on the Focus Partners Wealth brand earlier this year.
According to Focus Financial’s lawsuit against the new firm, Focus Partners Wealth also includes Mosaic Family Wealth Partners, a minority-owned and controlled network firm of Focus Financial. Focus claims the Mosaic team has operated since 2015, and manages about $1.6 billion in client assets.
Mariner declined to comment for this story, and the firm is not named as a defendant in the suit. Mosaic Value Partners did not return a request for comment prior to publication.
In the suit, Focus claims that it holds trademarks on the names Mosaic Family Wealth and Mosaic Family Office, as they pertain to financial planning services, with a pending patent for Mosaic Wealth, which it filed in April 2024, according to a copy of a status update on the patent application.
Focus claims that during the trio’s employment at Focus Partners Wealth, they “had direct exposure to the Mosaic brand and the services offered under the Mosaic marks.”
On April 7, Focus claims the trio formed Mosaic Value Partners with the California Secretary of State’s office while still working at Focus Partners Wealth, and stopped working there on April 24.
The same day, Focus claims they started working as Mosaic Value Partners, with “widespread” media coverage on April 28, which Focus claims “dramatically compounded” the harm to Focus by “deepening the likelihood of confusion between Defendant’s firm and Mosaic’s well-established brand.”
In the suit, Focus claimed that the new firm’s name “appropriates the sole distinctive element of (Focus’s) marks, ‘Mosaic,’ and appends only the generic, non-distinguishing words ‘Value’ and ‘Partners.’”
“The addition of generic or descriptive terms to a protected mark does not reduce the likelihood of confusion,” the suit read.
On April 28, Focus sent two cease-and-desist letters to the new Mosaic firm, demanding that it immediately stop using the “Mosaic Value Partners” name, with a second letter accelerating the compliance deadline to April 29.
However, on April 29, Mosaic Value Partners launched a website, touting the firm’s ability to “create a personalized foundation, carefully aligning each element to support your long-term goals and bring clarity to your overall financial picture” for clients.
Focus says Mosaic Value Partners “has indicated a willingness to discuss ‘amicable resolution’” but has not agreed to changing its name. Focus is seeking damages and a court order requiring Mosaic Value Partners to discontinue using the name.
Citywire previously reported that Focus Financial filed a separate lawsuit in Illinois state court against the trio of advisors, accusing them of breaking their non-solicitation agreements with their former employer.
