Quick Legal Question...

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jmacek07

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Aug 8, 2007
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I received a call from a lawyer today letting me know I'd be getting a C&D letter in the mail very shortly. It's in regards to a site that I have which is similar to WholeFoodsCoupons . com

My question is this..If I set up a new site like WFcoupons . com and just redirect the old site to the new one which is no longer using their trademarked name are they still going to be butt hurt and have a leg to stand on?

Anyone ran into something similar to this or have any experience in this arena?
 


jmacek07 said:
I received a call from a lawyer today letting me know I'd be getting a C&D letter in the mail very shortly. It's in regards to a site that I have which is similar to WholeFoodsCoupons . com

My question is this..If I set up a new site like WFcoupons . com and just redirect the old site to the new one which is no longer using their trademarked name are they still going to be butt hurt and have a leg to stand on?

Anyone ran into something similar to this or have any experience in this arena?
Click to expand...

They want you to turn over xyz.com to them, right?

How will you keeping xyz.com and just sending "their" customers from xyz.com to abc.com with a 301 make them happy? They might not be real net savy but I doubt their total fuckin retards.

Or am I missing something here?
 
Just received the letter via e-mail. They are simply asking me to take the site down Or hand over the domain name to them. From the letter it sounds like they're basically saying I can't use their trade mark name in my URL and I shouldn't provide any false information about their coupons which I didn't think I was doing anyways.

I'll throw up a site not using any trademarked names and make sure the content is spot on and then redirect the original URL. We'll see what happens.
 
Well, that was your first mistake imo. NEVER use a corporate name inside a domain name. Suck it up as a loss, redirect all to a new domain (do something like retail me not dot com); something generic. I'm sure you could do something like this with your domain; (domain dot com/whole-food-coupons). I dont see how that could be a problem.

...If you intend on keeping your site/domain; transfer registrars to something outside the country. - Someone who doesnt give a shit and is a bulletproof registrar (they have them you know, for email spammin, etc). Register your company offshore (like me; I chose nevis). Put a little Verdana disclaimer in small print in #CCCCCC color saying something like "we are not associated with such and such company".

1.) They prob. wouldnt be able to shut down the domain, due to it being with a who cares registrar, and offshore

2.) They prob couldnt sue you because you were formed offshore, my company requires a $20,000 bond before anyone talks shit or tries.

3.) Im sure the dislcaimer would get you lose.

If not, again - get a new domain
 
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Nothing but a lawyer scare tactic.

They would have sent it via certified mail with no warning if it was serious.
 
Exactly... Even then though, I prob get 1-2 certified mails a month and ive been in business for, lets see --- 8 years??? Fuck the lawyers, fuck the cops. lol But do what I said just incase that 1 letter is actually legit
 
Yeah..I've only received a scanned copy of the letter thus far. He said actual certified mail copy will be right behind it. We'll see. The site is only netting about $1k/mo so I'm not sure it's worth taking my company off shore for that.

I think I'll just throw up a quick site that doesn't use the trademark and with all factual info and do a 301. To hell with them.
 
I've had a couple companies file UDRPs for my domains over the years. It costs them $2,500.

You can just run with it till they file or 301 redirect to a new domain now, its up to you. You've got about 30-60 days from the time they file (if they do) to drop a 301 though.
 
So just leave the site in place until they file and then do a 301? Is there anything else they might do which will hurt more financially?
 
I've NEVER gotten a letter from a lawyer through e-mail. That's funny.

I'm also pretty sure an e-mail doesn't count.

I've gotten 10 c & d's over the years, all through registered mail.
 
Got a couple of these CC'ed to me as a hosting company owner back in the day. They always email you, and then they usually Fedex/UPS you something as well. In most cases, it's best to just 301 it now so you don't lose your link juice, and consider it a lesson learned (unfortunately). If they decide to come after you later and you're still hanging on to it, you could lose the ability to 301 it.
 
jmacek07 said:
So just leave the site in place until they file and then do a 301? Is there anything else they might do which will hurt more financially?
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Don't talk to lawyers, ever. The only reason they call you is to try and get information out of you that they can turn around and use against you.

Until you receive something by certified mail, nothing they say means shit.

Also, read this:
“So You Got My Letter”: A Small Businessman’s Guide To Dealing With Obnoxious Letters From Lawyers | Popehat
 
Interesting thread thus far....Would make for an interesting poll. How many of us have received actual C&D's and what was the outcome.
 
I've received emails like that before and I just shut down the site and ignored the emails. They didn't send me any more.
 
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