GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - LOL, eBay mailed me about a domain I regged.

Emil · 12-07-2011, 11:48 AM

I generated some domainnames and regged them the other day.
pembay.info wasn't the real name but it was very similar, not one letter related to ebay except "bay".

Today I receive this bullshit:

It has recently come to our attention that you have registered a domain name that mimics the famous eBay name and trademark and are currently operating a web site under that domain name. As you are likely aware, the coined term ?eBay? is one of the most distinctive and famous brands in the world. eBay enjoys broad trademark rights, which are registered as a trademark and protected in the United States and many countries around the world.

We are concerned that your registration and use of the domain name pembay.info infringes and/or dilutes the distinctive eBay trademark. Infringement occurs when someone, without authorization, uses a trademark that is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by someone else. Trademark infringement occurs when this unauthorized use confuses consumers to falsely believe that the two parties are related to one-another, or that the true trademark owner is either endorsing or sponsoring the activities of the infringer. Trademark dilution occurs when the unauthorized use is likely to lessen the distinctiveness of the true trademark owner?s famous trademark.

Your use of ?bay? in your domain name is likely to confuse consumers and/or lessen the distinctiveness of the famous eBay brand. ?eBay? is a fanciful trademark. Neither ?eBay? nor ?bay? describes online trading or e-commerce in any way. Therefore, it is likely that you chose your domain name because of eBay?s famous brand and to capitalize on the goodwill associated with that brand and this is a problem.
Federal and state laws, including the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999, provide for serious penalties (up to $100,000) against persons who, without authorization, use, sell, or offer for sale a domain name that infringes or dilutes another?s trademark. Infringers who have been notified that their use is infringing, but do not cease, may also be considered ?willful? and could be subject to additional money damages and liability for attorney?s fees. Having received this email, you are on such notice.

eBay diligently protects its famous brand through legal proceedings, and courts and trademark offices have ruled on many occasions that the use of ?bay? as you are using it violates eBay?s rights. For example, in November 2007 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit cited evidence that ?the use of a generic word plus ?bay?? ? as you are doing ? ?would lessen the distinctiveness of eBay?s trademark,? and held that such a name and associated domain names both infringed and diluted eBay?s mark in violation of applicable law.
In addition to court and trademark office cases, we have filed numerous successful cybersquatting complaints with the World Intellectual Property Organization?s arbitration panel against domain names that infringed the eBay mark and have succeeded in all those matters.

While eBay respects your right of expression and your desire to conduct business on the World Wide Web, eBay must enforce its own rights in order to protect its valuable and famous name. We appreciate that you may have registered pembay.info without full knowledge of the law in this area. Nonetheless, under the circumstances, we must insist that you immediately stop using the domain name for any purpose, not sell, transfer, or offer to sell the domain name to any other person, and simply let the domain name registration expire. In the meantime, the domain should be inactive and should not point to any content.

Just to be clear, eBay does not desire to interfere with any legitimate business you may be conducting. We are simply asking that you offer those legitimate services under a name, mark and domain name that is not likely to confuse consumers to believe that your company on one hand and eBay on the other hand are related and/or affiliated.

Please reply to this email and confirm that you will comply as requested. If we do not receive this confirming email, we will have no choice but to escalate this further and take whatever action that may be required to protect eBay's trademark rights.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

Sincerely,
Edith
eBay Legal Department

12-07-2011, 11:48 AM
Emil Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 5,650	LOL, eBay mailed me about a domain I regged. I generated some domainnames and regged them the other day. pembay.info wasn't the real name but it was very similar, not one letter related to ebay except "bay". Today I receive this bullshit: It has recently come to our attention that you have registered a domain name that mimics the famous eBay name and trademark and are currently operating a web site under that domain name. As you are likely aware, the coined term ?eBay? is one of the most distinctive and famous brands in the world. eBay enjoys broad trademark rights, which are registered as a trademark and protected in the United States and many countries around the world. We are concerned that your registration and use of the domain name pembay.info infringes and/or dilutes the distinctive eBay trademark. Infringement occurs when someone, without authorization, uses a trademark that is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by someone else. Trademark infringement occurs when this unauthorized use confuses consumers to falsely believe that the two parties are related to one-another, or that the true trademark owner is either endorsing or sponsoring the activities of the infringer. Trademark dilution occurs when the unauthorized use is likely to lessen the distinctiveness of the true trademark owner?s famous trademark. Your use of ?bay? in your domain name is likely to confuse consumers and/or lessen the distinctiveness of the famous eBay brand. ?eBay? is a fanciful trademark. Neither ?eBay? nor ?bay? describes online trading or e-commerce in any way. Therefore, it is likely that you chose your domain name because of eBay?s famous brand and to capitalize on the goodwill associated with that brand and this is a problem. Federal and state laws, including the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999, provide for serious penalties (up to $100,000) against persons who, without authorization, use, sell, or offer for sale a domain name that infringes or dilutes another?s trademark. Infringers who have been notified that their use is infringing, but do not cease, may also be considered ?willful? and could be subject to additional money damages and liability for attorney?s fees. Having received this email, you are on such notice. eBay diligently protects its famous brand through legal proceedings, and courts and trademark offices have ruled on many occasions that the use of ?bay? as you are using it violates eBay?s rights. For example, in November 2007 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit cited evidence that ?the use of a generic word plus ?bay?? ? as you are doing ? ?would lessen the distinctiveness of eBay?s trademark,? and held that such a name and associated domain names both infringed and diluted eBay?s mark in violation of applicable law. In addition to court and trademark office cases, we have filed numerous successful cybersquatting complaints with the World Intellectual Property Organization?s arbitration panel against domain names that infringed the eBay mark and have succeeded in all those matters. While eBay respects your right of expression and your desire to conduct business on the World Wide Web, eBay must enforce its own rights in order to protect its valuable and famous name. We appreciate that you may have registered pembay.info without full knowledge of the law in this area. Nonetheless, under the circumstances, we must insist that you immediately stop using the domain name for any purpose, not sell, transfer, or offer to sell the domain name to any other person, and simply let the domain name registration expire. In the meantime, the domain should be inactive and should not point to any content. Just to be clear, eBay does not desire to interfere with any legitimate business you may be conducting. We are simply asking that you offer those legitimate services under a name, mark and domain name that is not likely to confuse consumers to believe that your company on one hand and eBay on the other hand are related and/or affiliated. Please reply to this email and confirm that you will comply as requested. If we do not receive this confirming email, we will have no choice but to escalate this further and take whatever action that may be required to protect eBay's trademark rights. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation. Sincerely, Edith eBay Legal Department __________________ Free 🅑🅘🅣🅒🅞🅘🅝🅢 Every Hour (Yes, really. Free ₿itCoins.) (Signup with ONLY your Email and Password. You can also refer people and get even more.)