I agree with Michael. I am going through a similar situation with my domain name, and
have learned a couple of things. First of all, they can't use the ICANN Uniform
Resolution
Dispute Policy or the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act to force you to turn
over the domain name unless they can prove that you registered fusebox.org with bad
intent. Bad
intent includes the typical cybersquatting scenario of extorting a famous mark's
holder as well as more subtle points such as simply offering to sell it to them. I've
been advised
that you should never offer to sell a domain name. If they are interested in buying,
let them make an offer. By making an offer, they can be shown to accept you as the
legal holder
of the name.
As far as being sued for trademark violation, it comes down to who was using it first
and did you use reasonable means to make sure it was available for your use. Their
earliest
trademark filings are in March and May of 1997 (this can be verified at the
www.uspto.gov), but they weren't published for opposition until June and July of 1998.
Your domain name
registration was in April 1998. In addition, your use of the .org domain name for the
intended purpose of not-for-profit further shows that you have nothing to gain from any
confusion that may result.
Lastly, if do not make any comments verbal, written or otherwise to them without it
going through an attorney. I realize that attorneys cost $$ and I would be willing to
contribute
to a fund, but it is so important not to give them anything that can be used against
you later. Attorneys have a way of twisting anything so even if it sounds OK to you,
it could
come back to haunt to you later. At the very least, do not send anything in writing
without an attorney to look it over. If you do make verbal statements, make sure they
are
completely factual (i.e. "I registered the domain name on April 8, 1998"), but nothing
that draws any type of inference (i.e. "As a non-profit, we have nothing to gain from
trademark
dilution"). The latter may sound like a statement of fact to you, but an attorney
could say that this demonstrates your prior knowledge of possible trademark dilution.
I am not an attorney, but I think you have good ground to stand on. I would also
assume that if fusebox.com is serious, they will be monitoring these messages. I'll
be releasing an
updated version of my site soon with details of my entanglement (iology.com vs.
i-ology.com).
Hang in there,
Jackson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Michael Dinowitz wrote:
> I saw someone from them on a panel I was on a few weeks back and they didn't
> seem to have any problem then. If they do 'bitch' about it, we've got
> numbers, events, and published material to back us up. As Fusebox.org is not
> a profit center, they can not claim dilution of trademark on the consulting
> front. I'm quite sure that the Fusebox methodology has been around before
> theirs has and we've got a print book already out on it. Finally, they're
> ColdFusion users. If we simply explain nicely that its in their best
> interest to work WITH Fusebox.org rather than against it, it can save them
> on a LOT of negative publicity. Having a chunk of the CF world against then
> because they are wining about something that hasn't been an issue in the
> past is really bad for business.
>
> > Everyone, listen up... we've got an issue at hand with Fusebox.org that
> > I do not know how to handle, so I am asking for everyone's wisdom.
> >
> > I just received a rather negative call from Fusebox.COM (note the .com)
> > saying that we as fusebox.org are stepping on their brand name. Here
> > are their issues:
> >
> > 1. They are a web development consulting company, they do everything
> > from graphics to programming (including CF)
> > 2. They have owned the trademark to "Fusebox" since 1995
> > 3. They are about to go on a big marketing push and are concerned that
> > people will confuse fusebox.com with .org
> > 4. They claim to have a development methodology for building web sites.
> > http://www.fusebox.com/fb_pages1/main2.cfm?s=services&c=services
> > (note, they have left out testing) ;)
> >
> > I responded with these points:
> >
> > 1. We are a free organization that anyone can belong to, and have been
> > around since 1998
> > 2. We do not directly make any money. Everything is donated. Thus we
> > couldn't directly take money away from them
> > 3. We did not put up fusebox.org to try and draw people away from
> > fusebox.com, that has never
> > been our intention and never will be
> > 4. We have over 1800 people that are active users in our process, many
> > of which whom have built
> > their business plans around these ideas, changing the name would
> > directly affect those companies.
> >
> > Nothing has been resolved yet, I would like to hear as many people's
> > opinions and suggestions on this as possible. All I know is that I'm
> > ready and willing to fight this all the way to the end.
> >
> > Why? Because of this quote I just got through ICQ WHILE i was writing
> > this email (no kidding)
> >
> > "Just have to tell you that Fusebox is making my life so much easier.
> > Just finished a small project in 8 hours. Something that would have
> > taken me 20 - 30 hours 2 months ago." - Michael Slatoff
> >
> > Let's talk about this, and see if we can come up with something to offer
> > them.
> >
> > Steve Nelson
> > http://www.SecretAgents.com
> > Tools for Fusebox Developers
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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