An investment company with a prominent lineage is infringing on the many trademarks that made the Principal companies “famous,” according to a federal lawsuit.

C.V. Starr & Co. Inc. is infringing on a slew of trademarks that Principal Financial Services Inc. and Principal Life Insurance Co. have spent more than $1 billion to market over the last six decades, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Des Moines.

Starr & Co. filed documents last year to form Starr Principal and Starr Principal Holdings and hopes to enhance its “presence in key existing and
emerging markets worldwide.” Starr & Co. was founded by former American International Group Inc. head Hank Greenberg.

Starr Principal Holdings LLC was formed to fund private-equity deals, according to news reports last year.

According to the lawsuit, Starr Principal sought to use the Principal names to “trade on and/or capitalize on the goodwill symbolized” by the the company’s “family of marks.”

Principal seeks a ruling prohibiting the continued use of the Starr Principal name, a finding of unfair competition and trademark dilution. It also seeks an accounting of all profits derived from the use of Starr Principal and an award of the greater of three times its actual damages or all profits derived from the use of Starr Principal.