TRADEMARK
INFRINGEMENT
(INTERNET
DOMAIN)
Date: ____________________ (Date)
____________________________
(Company)
____________________________
(Company Address)
____________________________
VIA TELEFAX AND CERTIFIED MAIL.
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED.
__________________________,
Inc.
______________________________
(Address of Company)
______________________________
Attn.: __________________________
Re: ________________________ (Clients Name)
1We
are writing this letter on behalf of our clients, ____________________________
(Clients Name) and ___________________________________________ (Owners), owners
and operators of _______________________________ (Company Name), who have
acquired and maintain valuable trademark rights in and to the names and marks
"_____________________________ (Copyright Name or Mark)" and
"___________________________ (Copyright Name or Mark)". As set forth in detail below, it has recently
come to our clients attention that, on or about ___________________________
(Date), ______________________ (Service Company's Name) registered the domain
name ______________________ (Domain
Name). COM with ______________________ (Company Name who Registered) Such use violates our clients' rights and is
likely to cause confusion.
Our
clients have, for many years, offered to the public their services as the
owners and operators of a first class, ___________________________ (Indicate
Type of Business) in _______________ (Address of Business) which is also widely known to the public in the trade
as _______________________. Our
clients' rights in and to the names and marks ___________________________
(Company Name) and ___________________ (Company Name) are valuable assets
acquired, developed, and exploited by our clients, which our clients are, and
have been active in protecting. As a
result of our clients' efforts and substantial expenditures, the public has
come to associate the name "_____________ (Specify the Name)" with
our clients and with first class ________________ (Type of Business) services, in general.
We
therefore strenuously object to your adoption and use of our clients' valuable
trademark as your proposed INTERNET address.
Your proposed use is all the more likely to cause confusion in that very
medium, as an Internet search for _____________ (Company Name) reveals several
pages of OUR clients' information and photographs concerning
__________________________________ (Company Name), at _________________________
(Location).
Considering
the recent ______________ (Company) policies concerning the use and registration of Internet domain
names, adopted and in effect effective ____________ (Effective Date), our
clients were extremely surprised to learn of the new registration by ______________
(Company Name), of the domain name ________________.COM. (Domain Name). Please be advised that there is ample
precedent for asserting a well-founded claim for trademark infringement against
______________ (Violating Company),
based upon your adoption of this mark as your domain name. Due, in part, to the fact that _____________
(Company Name) currently permits only one logical domain name per applicant /
entity, and because there is no directory of domain names (and Internet users
must therefore "discover" or guess the addresses of the sites for
which they seek information), courts have previously held that it is
appropriate to enjoin use of a logical domain name by a registrant which is
likely to confuse the public into believing that the domain name is in fact
associated with another entity or is likely to dilute that mark to the first
used.
While
________________ (Company Name) does not search or clear applications to
register domain names, the new _____________ (Company Name) rules clearly
provide that the applicant for registration of a domain name must warrant and
represent that it has the legal right, and a bona fide intent, to use that
domain name, and that its use by the applicant will not interfere with or
infringe the property rights of any other person or entity in any other
jurisdiction. Our clients find it
difficult indeed, to understand how ______________________ (Company Name) could
have satisfied its obligations under the ________________ (Company Name) rules
in good faith, and warranted that its use of the domain name ___________.COM
does not interfere with, or infringe the rights of any other entity.
Accordingly,
our clients believe that your selection and registration of the domain name
_______________.COM demonstrates a clear intention to trade upon our clients
reputations and services and to foster an affiliation between _________________
(Company Name) on the one hand, and our clients and their high quality services on the other, when in
truth and in fact there is no such affiliation or association. Due to the extraordinarily wide
dissemination of materials on the Internet, and also in view of our clients own
prominent presence on the Internet under and in connection with the name
_______________, your selection of the name "_______________".COM for
your domain name address creates a high likelihood that the buying public will
be confused and deceived as to the origin and source of your goods and / or
services, and / or will assume a connection or affiliation between _______________
and _____________,
or
assume a license or sponsorship of the ________________ name and mark by our
clients, when in fact no such relationship, license or affiliation exists
Your
selection of the domain name __________________ .COM, as set forth above,
constitutes Federal Unfair Competition in violation of Section 43 (a) of the
Lanham Act, 15 U. S. C., 1125 (a), a violation of the Federal Anti-dilution
Statute, 15 U. S. C., 1125 (c), and a breach of your representation to
______________., above described. We
therefore hereby demand, on behalf of our clients, that you immediately
withdraw your registration with _________________. We demand that you inform us in writing, within ten (10) days of
the date of this letter, that you will cease using the name ______________ .COM
as aforementioned, or in any other way associated with your business.
The
foregoing is written without waiver of or prejudice to the rights of our
clients, all which are expressly reserved herein.
_____________________________________
(Signature
and Title)
____________________________________________________________.
(Company
Name and Address)
