eBay's Legal dpt. has a VERY long arm

Originally posted by timechange
I just love that story:
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-216899.html?legacy=cnet

"I am happy to report that I have concluded that your current use should not cause confusion with our Ajax trademark," wrote Scott Thompson, vice president and associate general counsel for Colgate-Palmolive. "Consequently, I have informed Network Solutions that a resolution has been reached and it will not be necessary to suspend the use of your domain name under current circumstances."

 

yeah but trust me, noone at Slashdot would sign a petition for me - after all I registered the domain with profit in mind.

 

Originally posted by timechange
I just love that story:
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-216899.html?legacy=cnet

THE VERY SAME WORD/TERMINOLOGY THAT EBAY USED IN THEIR EMAIL TO BIDDINGBAY..

wow


"In addition, the mark is famous and entitled to the full protection of the law. Your use of the Ajax.org domain name will undoubtedly dilute the significance of Colgate-Palmolive Company's trademarks and will result in consumer confusion with respect to any products and/or services which you may provide," Parker continued.

 

Of course, it's all legal mumbo-jumbo.

The legal profession is based upon templated work of others.

 

Originally posted by timechange
Of course, it's all legal mumbo-jumbo.

The legal profession is based upon templated work of others.

Ajax.org didn't and they won.

you giving up now?

 

Originally posted by timechange
Yeah I know. I don't really care, I almost forgot I had that domain registered

 

Originally posted by timechange
Yeah I know. I don't really care, I almost forgot I had that domain registered

you ... only reg'd it 11 days ago..

i know your too sharp.. to have 4gotten that! LOL :laugh:

 

No, seriously I forgot I did. But the email reminded me

Compared to the big news of today, this one is a fly in my soup.

 

"bidbay.com" was a very clear case of trademark infringement in my opinion. The guy was using a name which sounded very similar to ebay, his site design was similar, and his logo design was pretty much identical, I really have no sympathy for him.

 

How come the web site is up and running then?

 

As far as I know the were sued and ended up paying ebay ebay damages,

"BidBay, based in Tujunga, Calif., agreed to change its name to AuctionDiner.com, design a new logo and pay eBay an undisclosed sum, lawyers for both companies said Wednesday. "

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/02/20/financial1817EST0122.DTL

 

I think it's ridiculous that ebay is after names that contain the word "bay". As I explained in my 1st email to them, there are 8,000+ domains that end in "BAY.COM" !!!

They apparently look for a combo of "bid" and "bay".

 

Originally posted by timechange
How come the web site is up and running then?

they had to change the name to
http://www.AuctionDiner.com

from BidBay to AuctionDiner

* agree with Snoop.. this fellow (BidBay) tried to duplicate
ebay even in their BidBay logo..

 

Well in my case it was only the name. Anyway, here's what they responded with:

Dear Timechange.com:

Thank you for writing back to us and agreeing not to use or sell the
BIDDINGBAY.COM domain name. We appreciate that you may have registered the
domain name with the best of intentions and without full knowledge of the
law in this area.

At this point, the best thing for you to do is to not make any future use of
the BIDDINGBAY.COM domain name, do not sell or offer to sell the domain
name, simply not renew the domain name, and allow the domain registration to
lapse.

Thank you again for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Edith
eBay Legal Department

 

I think ebay were a little creative with the way they interpreted trademark law here.

"ebay" is coined but "bay" certainly isn't. Historically, bays are ares where trade took place - so it is not somehting that is unconnected with auctions or other places of trade. Indeed, when taken apart - ebay suggests an electronic bay, or a virtual bay where trade may take place.

bidbay.com was designed to look and feel like ebay - a different thing to just using a domain with bay in it. Their citing this is misleading as they are not referring to the full facts.

The USPTO in refusing to grant a trademark with the coined "ebay" in it is different to their assessing "bay" to be proprietary.

I don't think it would have been as clean cut as ebay made out, but sadly they have the clout to bully. And everyone they roll over makes them more confident and arrogant for the next person they approach.

 

[Nic]

next thing you now, "bay" is a tm, come on!

 

Again, in my opinion they check for 'bid' AND 'bay'. Otherwise, they have a long list of domains to wade through (8,000+ .COM's ending in 'bay').

 

[beatz]

For instance my DecoBay.com ..

 

Funny thing is, someone was selling jizzbay.com on eBay

 

[Nic]

thata what i was talking about timechange, *anything*bay.com does give ebay the right to claim it.

btw [kalo-pasxa megale, xristos anesti]