WeWork is not cool with Alexandria's new catch phrase

It’s not just the postponed IPO and the ousted CEO occupying WeWork’s attentions. The embattled shared workspace company is waging a rather odd trademark battle with Alexandria Real Estate — the Boston firm that basically owns Kendall Square. (Well, the major pharma buildings there, anyway.)

Alexandria has applied with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to gain rights to the phrase “weARELabs.” WeWork, however, has notoriously trademarked the word “We” — and is arguing “weARELabs” is not copacetic.

“On one hand, is it weird to see someone litigate over a term as short as the word ‘we’? Yeah,” one IP lawyer told STAT. “On the other hand, if you do have a federally registered trademark, you have a duty to police third-party uses or you risk losing the trademark.”