March 5 (Reuters) - The North Carolina lender that

bought much of Silicon Valley Bank following its March 2023

seizure was sued for trademark infringement on Wednesday by the

collapsed bank's former parent.

SVB Financial Trust said First Citizens BancShares

never acquired or got permission to use the Silicon Valley Bank

name, chevron logo, svb.com domain name and "Make Next Happen

Now" slogan when it bought many of the bank's assets at a

discount, in a transaction arranged by the Federal Deposit

Insurance Corp.

The lawsuit in San Francisco federal court seeks to reclaim

SVB's marks, and obtain damages and royalties to distribute to

creditors. SVB emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November.

In a statement, Raleigh, North Carolina-based First Citizens

said it acquired the SVB brand assets, including the trademarks

and domain name, from the FDIC in March 2023, and will defend

its ownership in court.

SVB is also suing the FDIC to recover $1.93 billion of

deposits it claims the agency seized illegally.

Silicon Valley Bank failed in the wake of a bank run spurred

by worries about capital levels, after rising interest rates

caused big losses in its bond and mortgage portfolio.

Its $209 billion of assets made the collapse one of the

largest in U.S. banking history, and disrupted many technology

startups.

In its complaint, SVB noted that acquirers of failed banks

often stop using failed banks' names because consumers view

those names negatively.

It cited JPMorgan Chase's ( JPM ) retiring the First

Republic Bank name after that bank, which also catered to

Silicon Valley, was seized less than two months after Silicon

Valley Bank.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) also jettisoned the Washington Mutual name after

buying much of that savings and loan, which had $307 billion of

assets when it failed in 2008.

SVB said First Citizens may have felt differently because it

had little presence in California and no experience running a

business like Silicon Valley Bank.

To avoid having to expand organically or market its

unfamiliar name, First Citizens "chose to tap into Silicon

Valley Bank's historic position as the industry leader for

banking services in the innovation economy," the complaint said.

First Citizens' share price has more than tripled since the

Silicon Valley Bank takeover.

The case is SVB Financial Trust v First Citizens Bank &

Trust Co, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California,

No. 25-02267.