WeWork China Rival UrWork Can't Use Name on New York Office

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese co-working company UrWork plans to open its first location in Manhattan early next year, but its name likely won't be on the door.

WeWork Cos., the New York-based startup, sued UrWork this month, arguing that the Chinese company's name infringes on its trademarks. As part of the case, a judge ruled Friday that Serendipity Labs, a co-working company that is partnering with UrWork to open the new location, can't use UrWork's name anywhere outside of China on places such as its website, office, or promotional materials.

"Today we achieved an important victory," WeWork said in a statement. "We are pleased this case is moving forward well so quickly." Serendipity Labs declined to comment.

UrWork said: “We are actively cooperating with the court to proceed with all due juridical handlings. We reserve our rights of appealing as a foreign (Chinese) business player in New York. We stay committed to and will not relinquish New York as an instrumental market in our global expansion strategy.”

The order is only in effect while the case remains open. The new office location is still set to open in January at 28 Liberty Street. WeWork is the world's largest global provider of co-working space, where small businesses, entrepreneurs and teams rent desks or offices in a shared building. But UrWork is the leading co-working company in China and is preparing to enter London, Singapore, New York and Los Angeles.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ellen Huet in San Francisco at ehuet4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz, Alistair Barr