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Amateur With Call-Sign Deflects Domain Challenge
ivi writes "Check out the story at the American Radio Relay League's web site." I thought this was interesting because it seems likely that QVC was sending out "bulk" threat letters to anyone with "QVC" in their domain name. This practice has become common, and there are even companies that specialize in providing this, uh, service. The domain owner handled it well, and QVC backed off - but there still seems to be something slimy about the act of sending out threats in that manner in the first place.
"All is Well and N7QVC.COM has Been approved and can remain up. I wish to thank each and everyone for your Support. Received Email from Attorney and said that 'your use of the letters N7QVC in your domain name are used only for your personal use, and not for commercial activities that would create the impression that you are affiliated or connected with ***, Inc. in any way, we will take no further action'.
I understand *** needs to protect there trademark as you would want to protect your FCC assigned call from other people using it, I'm satisfied that this matter is over, and hope everyone will consider that the attorney was doing his job and doing it well. Lets all consider this matter over, I owe you all a great deal of thanks. I only wish I could thank you in person and let you know how grateful I am, How wonderful if feels to be a ham today. Its a wonderful hobby and you really meet some cool people that are always there for one another. There are some special people out there and i got email from allot of them in the past few days. at least now my site can go back to an average 25-50 hits a day :-) And while i have all your attention lol Don't forget to check out the Dualband copper cactus antenna. It works good and everyone says its really easy to build, by the way its all free as amateur radio should be. I Really don't know if I could have this website without all your support. I hope you all know what this means to me and how grateful I am."
No need to worry, folks. Just move along.
US businesses that currently accept chip and PIN/signature
nothing QVC could do about it.
Except use lawsuits for herassment. Which is effective in the US because of costs not being awarded against plaintiffs and the chances of a judge considering the plaintiff in "contempt of court" are remote.
If he wanted to have "N7QVC Amateur Radio Supply", that in itself is distinctive enough to be granted a trademark.
Except that HAM callsigns cannot be tradmarks. Since they only apply to commercial ventures. Also a trademark is usually only valid within the specific type of business. i.e. if things worked correctly QVC would be laughed at if they made a claim against anything other than a television shopping company.
However other people, e.g. the IOC having been able to get away with this nonsense makes it appear credible.
Really, there ought to be a law for instances like this where there is a clear misuse of trademark
There already laws. Just that they are not enforced.
Or have laws against "fraud", "herassment", "extortion", etc Been rewritten (in the USA) not to apply to corporate entities.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Wasn't it the government that assigned him those call letters when he got approved by the FCC in the first place. Couldn't he have just told QVC to go bug them instead, since he'd already been granted usage of those letters.
Unix is user friendly, it's just selective about who its friends are.
nothing QVC could do about it. If he wanted to have "N7QVC Amateur Radio Supply", that in itself is distinctive enough to be granted a trademark.
Really, there ought to be a law for instances like this where there is a clear misuse of trademark, that said trademark be revoked.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
You do realize that two companies in completely unrelated industries can share the same trademark, don't you? Look at the word trademark. A mark for a trade. For a specific trade. Trademarks only apply to the trade within which the business does work. Of course, if your business is sufficiently common, such as McDonalds (tm), the trademark can be successfully defended outside the trade. However, this is a fairly rare occurance in IP law. As an example, the word, "Nova", is trademarked by both General Motors (their car, the "no go", as it is translated from Spanish) and PBS (the science-oriented television show). Both were awarded trademarks because they are in completely different trades, and as such the trademarks would not be confused with one another.
.REG TLD simply won't work. ICANN holds the position that top level domains != trademarks. Now, WIPO is in the business of defending IP. So, if there is some ambiguity, they will try to help enforce the rights of the IP holder. But your argument simply doesn't hold water.
As a result, how should the ICANN deal with two companies that wish to register the same domain name? They might both own the trademark to that name, but in different industries? Your suggestion for a
And, for the record, free speech laws in America do not include the right to slander a company or to dilute the efficacy of a trademark. This is fairly well established (i.e. I don't think the courts will be overturning precedent any time soon). An exception to this exception is in the case of satire (one of the strongest forms of free speech in America, I might add). This is because satire cannot be confused with serious dialogue; as such, satire does not constitute slander.
Cheers!
Now, as I understood it, WIPO does not have a policy of forcing the foreiture of domain names to trademark owners. They will do this, but it is not their policy.
--Be human.
the link seems to be slashdotted. luckily some guy in norway is broadcasting it via his 2 meter rig. thank god for dashdot
FluX
After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume