- American Airlines is suing The Points Guy over the management of customers' frequent flyer miles.
- The airline previously sent TPG a cease-and-desist notice, leading TPG to preemptively sue.
- American says the data isn't secure outside its system, but TPG says customers should decide.
American Airlines is suing The Points Guy over the TPG app's frequent flyer mile management tool, saying it violates trademark and privacy rules.
The lawsuit is the latest escalation in a dispute between the companies over the way customers are allowed to track and manage their own miles from AA and other carriers.
Through its app, The Points Guy is "knowingly and willfully expropriating American's protected intellectual property to deceive consumers," the airline's lawyers argued in a complaint filed in the US District Court of Northern Texas.
By allegedly implying that the companies have a relationship, American Airline's lawyers continued, TPG is "free-riding on decades of investment" and seeking to "supplant American's customer relationships."
The complaint also says that the airline previously declined an invitation from TPG to link customer data directly through an API, after which TPG developed its own workaround.
American Airlines then said it reached out to TPG "in good faith" to get the feature removed, only to be surprised with a preemptive lawsuit by TPG in Delaware asking a court to declare the actions to be legal.
Beyond the trademark and branding concerns outlined in the complaint, American Airlines spokesperson Andrea Koos told Insider the airline felt that the app "does not comply with our standards of use of confidential information."
A spokesperson for The Points Guy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, but TPG founder Brian Kelly told Bloomberg, "we fundamentally believe that if you want to let us track your points in a safe and secure manner, then you should be allowed to do so through our app."
American Airlines is requesting a permanent injunction against TPG, as well as damages and legal fees.
