So what does our competition do? Five years later ( in January 2008) this business trademarks the exact name that we are using to sell our product. They proceed to hire a lawyer, and file a claim to have our Web site transferred to them. This unscrupulous business was not content with their current profitable situation, they wanted more and they were determined to take it.
Not once did they try to contact us in the five years we have been online. The only communication they initiated to us was to inform us that they were planning on stealing our Web site. We filed the response ourselves (lawyers cost too much!) to the National Arbitration Forum, confident with our overwhelming evidence. This was probably not wise, since their lawyer was obviously much more schooled in the domain registry law lingo. This was our second mistake. Our first mistake was not having our name trademarked from the get-go. We were naive to think that there were such unethical predators slinking around. We lost our PR 4 Web site and now our customers are left not knowing where to find us. Despite all that, we have bounced back under a new name ... and yes, it is trademarked.
Do not let this happen to you. Keep in mind that Mark and I had our original Web site protected under copyright laws since 2003. We clearly used the name that our competitors wound up stealing from us, this is why we did not think we needed a lawyer. Copyright laws clearly state, material that is marked as copyrighted is protected. Under these federal laws, the descriptive works (whether is fireflies or socks) is yours, and no one has the right to take that from you. This is why we did not hire a lawyer ... clearly we would win. Well, we did not. Apparently a trademark trumps a copyright, even if it is implemented in an unethical way.
When things like this happen, I always try to look at the bright side. I know our loyal customers will find us and karma will take care our greedy competitors (can’t escape the law of attraction!). And I also know whoever reads this article will spread the word, and learn from our unfortunate mistakes. Be prosperous and keep safe.
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