Going to get sued: Worth challenging?

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alexb

alexb

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Dec 6, 2007
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I have this site: gamerblag.com
Somebody else has a site I'd never heard of: [FONT=&quot]blaggame.co.uk

I always thought blog and blag could be used interchangeably. This guy says he has trademarked the word blag, and that I can't use it.

My site isn't even two months old and isn't worth defending, but I'm pissed about this on principle. You can't 'own' a word that's widely-used.

Should I cave and rename the site? Or should I just raise my middle finger high and spurn the British as my forefathers did hundreds of years ago?
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Sounds like he is trying it on, ask him to fax you the trademark certificate.

We have a trademark, a worldwide one is horrendously expensive, so if he does have it which i sincerely doubt then put the site on a server where the trademark doesn't cover.
 
Maybe a scare tactic.

If it turns out he actually has the certificate then just host it on an off-shore server or change the name.
 
Seems to be trademarked -- just do a search for it here

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=j9ju7f.1.1

Word Mark BLAG!
Goods and Services IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: Board games. FIRST USE: 20030401. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20031201
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 78298978 Filing Date September 11, 2003
Current Filing Basis 1A;44E Original Filing Basis 1B;44D Published for Opposition January 11, 2005 Registration Number 3104666

Registration Date June 13, 2006 Owner (REGISTRANT) SHEPHERD, Richard INDIVIDUAL UNITED KINGDOM Kent House 112 Woodman Road Brentwood, Essex UNITED KINGDOM CM14 5AL

Type of Mark TRADEMARK Register PRINCIPAL Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
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Tell him to fuck off.

No reasonable person would get your site confused with his. If they searched for his site and landed on yours, they'd know it wasn't the right site.

Google search for "blag" turns up plenty of dictionary results.
 
audax said:
Yes, but it's trademarked as "Blag!" not "Blag"

@OP: Just remove the exclamation point from the logo.
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Funny what they'll allow to get trademark. Course fortunately for the OP he's restricted to a very defined set of letters (capital B, ! etc, also its restricted to bored games, would be like hormel suing SpamAssasin).

Though I still think he wouldn't have any ability to sue the OP who appears to be in the US.
 
Do some research first.

International trademarks: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization
Search for the mark blag in the Madrid database and you will only find a French company owning that word as a trademark for diary products.

UK trademarks: Intellectual Property Office - Welcome to the Intellectual Property Office
Same search, there are a few registered for various Nice classes.

Nice classification of goods and services:
NIVILO:CLASS

I didn't go through each listing on the UK site, but you can do that and look up the registered classes. You have to be in the same class, with the same trademark, to be liable.

Edit: and of course the USPTO as linked above for the US!

Then, remind the guy that the UK isn't the world and if he only registered a TM for the UK, but you operate from other grounds and don't even have a co.uk domain, and that he can kindly xxx your yyy. Or something similar.
 
bobsoap said:
Then, remind the guy that the UK isn't the world and if he only registered a TM for the UK, but you operate from other grounds and don't even have a co.uk domain, and that he can kindly xxx your yyy. Or something similar.
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Could simply state.
- The trademark isn't registered in the US.
- Blogs and Board Games are not of the same classification.
- And if he really thinks he can sue for that, then inform him that a french dairy company could sue him too then.
 
He's got the trademark in the US as well.

I tried explaining to him how blogs and boardgames are different, but his argument is that my site deals with games, and his site technically deals with a game. Game=game.
 
alexb said:
He's got the trademark in the US as well.

I tried explaining to him how blogs and boardgames are different, but his argument is that my site deals with games, and his site technically deals with a game. Game=game.
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The exact wording of his trademark is boardgame. Blogs are publications and such and not games, he'll lose if he tries to sue. Also if you remove the ! from the logo, then you're technically not infrindging cuz he registered "Blag!" Specifically.
 
kblessinggr said:
The exact wording of his trademark is boardgame. Blogs are publications and such and not games, he'll lose if he tries to sue. Also if you remove the ! from the logo, then you're technically not infrindging cuz he registered "Blag!" Specifically.
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I looked up the specifics of his TM and it says (under class 09) that it's protected against usage in online publications. That pretty much covers blogs.

But yeah, I'd be willing to remove the ! if he'd leave it alone.
 
alexb said:
I looked up the specifics of his TM and it says (under class 09) that it's protected against usage in online publications. That pretty much covers blogs.

But yeah, I'd be willing to remove the ! if he'd leave it alone.
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The way he's going after your site, I doubt he'd leave you alone even after the ! removal. But it would mean much less ground he could stand on.
 
You know... after removing the !, you could always blog about the ridiculousness, he can't sue you for mentioning Blag! in a blog, since thats protected by freedom of speech here in the US (short of slander/libel) :D

But I suspect he's going after the domain more than the header, in which case he has no grounds since Blag! was his trademark.
 
Tell him you've changed your site, then send him the link for approval. Dickroll him, then tell him to fuck off.

In the UK, we describe people like that as 'fucking wankers'.

wanker.gif


You've got to dickroll him, you've just got to.
 
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