An Ameriprise Monetary dealer in Norman, Oklahoma, accused an LPL Monetary-affiliated follow of infringing on his trademark.
Mark E. Woody, who runs a follow known as Kindred Wealth, alleged that LPL brokers Sarah Houle-Johns and Kimberly A. Ritter, who lead Kindred Spirits Wealth Administration, violated his trademark rights by persevering with to make use of the “kindred” title, in keeping with a grievance filed Monday in District Courtroom in Minnesota.
Woody, a 36-year Ameriprise lifer, alleged that the 2 practices serve the identical sorts of clients and function in overlapping markets, which is “probably to present rise to the mistaken perception that the practices are associated,” in keeping with the grievance.
Kindred Spirits Wealth’s “continued infringement” will trigger irreparable hurt to Woody and his follow, he alleged.
Woody began his follow in 2010, and 5 years later, he trademarked “kindred.” He trademarked “kindred wealth” in September 2024, in keeping with the grievance.
Houle-Johns and Ritter run Kindred Spirits out of Bloomington, Minnesota, together with 5 help employees, in keeping with their agency web site. They based the all women-run follow in 2015 at Foresters Monetary Companies and moved to LPL in August 2024 from Cetera Funding Advisors, in keeping with their LinkedIn profiles.
Woody is looking for unspecified financial damages, together with any revenue Houle-Johns and Ritter earned from the alleged infringement. He additionally requested the courtroom to order the destruction of promotional supplies bearing the Kindred Spirits Wealth Administration title and bar the duo from infringing his logos.
Kindred Wealth, which additionally has places of work in Murfreesboro and Nashville, Tennessee, contains seven different advisors, 4 affiliate advisors and 10 help employees, in keeping with their web site. The staff managed $799 million in belongings as of June 2025, in keeping with a Forbes rating this yr.
Woody alleged that his follow “has developed important goodwill” related to the trademarked names, provided that kindred “historically refers to folks related by household, spirit, or shared values” and “defines its tradition.”
Members of the Kindred Wealth staff didn’t reply to a request for remark. An Ameriprise spokesperson additionally didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Houle-Johns and Ritter additionally didn’t reply to a request for remark. They each began their profession with Foresters in 1985 and 2003, respectively, and moved to Cetera in 2019, in keeping with BrokerCheck.
A spokesperson for LPL additionally didn’t reply to a request for remark.