Dang it, Ive been sent TM letter.

[Darkfire001]

Actually it already has. Alot of my freinds got a good laugh about it, and it spread quite quickly. Already people are coming back to me asking if Im getting sued by sega. LOL, shows you how fast person-to-person is.

 

[jberryhill]

Under US law, a trademark owner has the option of having the judge award anything up to $100,000 in damages - without having to prove a single dollar of actual damage done. The amount awarded under this provision of the ACPA is entirely discretionary with the judge.

Having a federal judgment hanging over your head, on the basis of shoot-from-the-hip advice taken from an online bulletin board, and without careful consideration of your specific factual circumstances, is not fun. It will cease to be fun, long before you find out that you cannot qualify for a mortgage, and probably around the time your wages are attached and the marshalls are hauling away your computer.

Not showing up in the remote court you will be sued in, is a good way to favorably impress a judge while he/she is spinning that roulette wheel, and "it was too expensive" or "some guy told me to ignore it", are not favored excuses after the judgment has issued.

Some of these domain/trademark disputes are outrageous, some are frivolous, and some are downright funny. But you need to have a healthy respect for the potential downside risk, because the game has a very high table maximum.

 

[Darkfire001]

JBerryHill I have absolutely no idea what to do at this point. Ive had people telling me just to give it to them, Others telling to notch it up to like 2K, and Personally I just want to get my $75 back lol.

 

[mole]

Ah, the agenda comes out.

Just plead ignorance, said you paid $75 bucks for it, and ask politely if they would help pay that to help you out. If they say no, then hand it over prompto. It ain't worth the hassle for such a crap name. :razz:

 

[domainquestion]

I wouldn't mess around with this. Anyone who gave you advice to ask them 2k for the name was irresponsible.

I would either get a lawyer and be prepared to pay good money for said lawyer or hand over the domain and chalk it up to experience.

 

[jberryhill]

"Personally I just want to get my $75 back"

Then don't let other people tell you what you want. After you've spent the "ammunition" supplied to you here, you can find yourself on a very lonely battlefield.

By the way, minors are not exempt from civil liability (although minors registering domain names raise some interesting issues on the voidability of contracts). Whether or not you are 16, a federal court can certainly issue a judgment against you that will hang over your head for a long time (think, student loan, car loan, etc.).

 

[Ari Goldberger]

Mr. Berryhill's right. There are so many opportunities out there on the Internet and I too often find entrepreneurs getting bogged down in legal disputes when their time, energy and money could better be spent on other ventures.

And there's a big potential downside. I know of, at least, three cases where a tm owner has filed a federal lawsuit and refused to settle even after the domain name owner offers to give back the domain! The lawyers try to squeeze the owner for their legal fees, threatening to get a judgment of statutory damages (up to $100,000) under the ACCPA (Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act). You always must consider this potential risk.

 

[Darkfire001]

Okay, Once I get their response to my other e-mails I will take some course of action to solve this. Personally I had planned to make a fan-site for their company and in my e-mails to them I asked if some sort of non-monetary arrangement could be made for me to retain the domain if some agreements like not-selling it could be made.

 

[Darkfire001]

Ok Its Continues, I just got this e-mail from them Minutes ago and it was well-written. I dont like it but I can understand their view. Below the letter I have what I plan on e-mailing them, but want to get some feedback before I send it.

____________________________________________________
Dear *************:

Thank you for your email message below. Please understand that Sega very much appreciates your interest and enthusiasm for its products and services. However, in order to protect its intellectual property rights, Sega cannot allow you to own or use the "segagames.com" domain name.

You also should not feel like you are being singled out. Sega vigorously protects its marks and names (particularly its world-famous SEGA mark and name) as evidenced by the numerous trademark registrations and pending trademark applications it owns for its SEGA mark in countries throughout the world. In order to protect its mark, Sega must, and does, aggressively police its marks and names. The fact that others also may be engaging in illegal and/or infringing conduct does not support your registration or use of the "segagames.com" domain name which, as explained in my prior communication, infringes and violates Sega's longstanding and well-established rights in its SEGA mark and name.

For these reasons, on Sega's behalf, we must again request that you comply with the terms of my prior communication, namely, transfer the domain name to Kabushiki Kaisha Sega (its rightful owner) and agree not to register or use any domain name that incorporates Sega's marks or names in the future.

We look forward to confirmation of your prompt compliance with these terms.

Leslie McKnew
Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP
Attorneys for Kabushiki Kaisha Sega and its affiliated entities
____________________________________________________

Dear **************,

We can understand why you think Sega's intellectual property might be at risk, but we would like to emphasize the fact that a Pro-Sega fan site was in order. We are willing to transfer the domain to Sega if a few preparations could be made (More out of Genorisity then for compensation).

1. We would very much appreciate it if Sega could arrange for us to recieve some sort of Press Access in the future for News Reports and Events. We still plan on launching a Sega Fan site in the near future (Of course under a domain that is suitable).

2. We would like compensation for the $75.00 we paid for the Domain. We still have purchase records (If you wish to see them) from our purchase of the domain.

We feel that if these two conditions are met then it will lead to a very simple and clean arrangement.

Thank You for your time in this Matter it is Appreciated,
*************

 

[garet]

Leslie McKnew is not a Mister. I believe that the tone of her letter was very reasonable.

 

[Darkfire001]

lol, PHEW that would have been important OMG lol that would not have been good. And yes I thought the tone of the letter was Reasonable. I just want to get out of it with out to much of a loss and press access would really help me.

 

[Tippy]

You should be able to get out of it but when they ask "who did you buy the name from?" I will be in it

That's ok, I fought off eBay

Mike

 

[Darkfire001]

Well Tippy, I dont want to get you involved at all (Just being friendly and all).

 

[jberryhill]

You know, once in a long while, in circumstances where someone is interested in policing "unauthorized" uses of their trademark and in circumstances where the domain name registrant is making a legitimate referential use of the mark, I ask, in so many words, "So, what would it take for the domain name registrant to be authorized."

They *can* grant permission, along with certain requirements as to disclaimer etc., in which case their concern about policing unauthorized use is satisfied - i.e. it is no longer an "unauthorized" use.

You might ask them what sort of a domain name *would* they let you use for a fan/review site.

 

[Darkfire001]

Well the obviously dont want me to use this one. But I will keep that in mind. But see in another e-mail I suggested a disclaimer but I dont think they cared.

 

[Life]

Give it up DarkFire, its not worth your time and effort and especially your money to fight these giants with unlimited cash reserves.
I once owned marilynmonroe and jamesdean and jerryseinfeld (to develop a fan site like your self) and I gave them up gracefully because in the end its the right thing to do and its the law.
If you just want to screw with them because you have the cash then you have many options to prolong giving up the domain.
One that I found out is to register a trademark in Tunisia which can take about 48 hours and then claim that you also have a trademark and that they will need to fight it in the Tunisian courts which would take years and years to get over turned.
But in the end WIPO has a great deal in the managment of world affairs, so in the end you will lose even though you had good intentions.
Some times bad things happen to good intentioned people.

Good Luck

-Life

 

[Darkfire001]

Well, I still cant get over the irony of coroporate politics seems like they are hurting themselves by doing this. Well, I am going to try to stress to them that I would rather have press access then money.

 

[Drewbert]

>and I gave them up gracefully because in the end its the right thing to do and its the law.

Bullshit. You've been reading too much propaganda.

One thing that really riles me is these people that think they're the only people on the planet with their name.

I mean, there's bound to be many more "jerry seinfeld's" in the world, and what if one of them grows up to become a famous tennis player? Is it right that the comedian gets full and sole control of the com/net/org JUST BECAUSE he's the only FAMOUS Jerry Seinfeld in 2002?

And that's without getting into "fair use" territory.

Those of you that crumble without a fight are doing the world a disservice.

 

[Drewbert]

>It will cease to be fun, long before you find
>out that you cannot qualify for a mortgage,
>and probably around the time your wages
>are attached and the marshalls are hauling
>away your computer.

Will the marshalls fly all the way to the UK to do that? Will they have jurisdiction when they get there?

 

[jberryhill]

There certainly are ways of obtaining foreign enforcement of US judgments by coordinate courts in the relevant foreign jurisdiction, yes. It is not always efficient or easy, and there may be an opportunity by the defendant to challenge the enforcement, but it can be done.