Posted on 04/15/2002 4:35:32 PM PDT by invoman
Today I received a threatening e-mail:
< it has come to our attention that you are using the name "Minnesota Fishing" for your website. That is a registered trademark (registration # 29748) owned by ______.
Please remove the name immediately from http://www.invominnesota.com/ and any other materials or mediums where you may be using it, or action will be taken to the full extent of the law.
You are responsible for any damages and any deceptive practices damages as well as monetary awards to World Wide WebResults the courts may order due to your misleading use of this trademarked name.
. You are further instructed to notify anyone whom you have done business with, using the "Minnesota Fishing" trademark, to inform them that it is owned by World Wide WebResults and that you are not in fact affiliated with the "Minnesota Fishing" Trademark in any way.
You have 3 working days to comply or further action will be initiated.
Sincerely,
___________>>>>
"Minnesota Fishing & Logo Design"
and
"Fishing Minnesota & Logo Design"
and those exact phrases are probably enforceable. Note that the Secretary of State of Minnesota has ALSO registered "Minnesota Fisheries", "Minnesota Fishing Federation" and Minnesota Fishing and Wildlife Museum". Their names are as similar to his as is yours. Is he also attempting to make them "cease and dissist"? I doubt it.
Consult a lawyer in your state.
The question becomes one of uniqueness.
If the words are being used as a descriptive then you can not
preclude others from using them
ie. ______ is a "fast car."
Your goal initially should be to find out who this is.
Do they have deep pockets
Did they file this letter because they believe to not send
a demand letter would be to waive their right to the name.
Does the state of minisota use the phrase "minisota fishing"?
How many other sites use the phrase minisota fishing.
The more normal and non-unique you can make the phrase the
weaker their claim is.
One last point, they may have a lawyer who convinced them
they could hijack the phrase by sending out the letters
Respond, and identify how you are not diminishing their claim.
hope this helps.
ps: is it just the phrase or is there a logo involved?
This was not a state ruling.
It was a federal ruling by The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which has jurisdiction over Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Guam and Hawaii.
Not at this time. I live in North Dakota. He is upset that I'm using "Minnesota Fishing" as the TITLE of my website.
He wants to monopolize the term on Google...
What has yet to be answered is can I sell advertising to Minnesota businesses if I live in North Dakota, and my website is based out of North Dakota?
My website is www.invominnesota.com
His is www.fishingminnesota.com
2) Sounds like You have the intent to expand your business.
3) What is this other person? Company, crackpot, businessman?
4) Sounds like he is really streaching. There must be other examples of people
using the same phrase.
5) You don't have the name registered, you are using the words descriptivly.
You should look into registering.
6) If you are going to resist, hire a lawyer to produce a
letter with all your findings and politly tell him to go
away
7) Any mark is only worth what people are willing do (pay $$) to defend.
8) I would be curious, about this guy's web site and the tags he uses.
I've decided the hassles with this dude aren't worth it right now. The guy plays a lot of stuff pretty dirty on the internet, hidden links, spamming Google and 'scary letters' like the one he sent me.
I did my homework- I added the word "ONLINE" to my title. According to Minnesota Trademark laws...I'm now distinct.
As soon as the elction is over, and I win or lose, I'll get back to working on getting some income from the website. It's MOSTLY a hobby website, but as I get more and more people visiting it, I'm sure people will want to advertise on it. I'll deal with that when it comes.
In the meantime I need to focus on my higher priority...winning this election.
Thanks for the help my friend!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.