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Recieved Cease and desist letter today.

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DNFront

Junior Member
Today I received a Cease and desist letter from an out of state lawyers office. They state in the letter that my website has been using the trademarked phrase of their client and accused me of profiting from it. (For the record I am a domain investor and the domain name in question I acquired last month. I never put any content on the website, advertised or sold products on it. Even the domain name itself has no words nor phrases of their clients trademark.) To make matters more comical, the envelope that contained the document didn't even spell my last name correctly, nor did they correctly spell my name in the document itself. Along other misspellings of my email address that I registered the domain with.
The letter also states that I am to show proof of recorded sales and all profits earned by infringing on their clients trademarked phrase ( again I never sold or advertised on this website...No sales whatsoever.) and says their client is entitled to all lost profits up to 3 times the amounts...(3x0=0 last time I checked) ..There are a lot more threatening sentences in this letter but to keep things short, they gave me a week to write them back with me agreeing to all terms listed in the document, or they will proceed with litigation.

My question is what actions should I take, when the only thing Ive done was buy a domain name last month that contains none of the "phrase" in question nor has ever had any content/sales/or advertising on it... Its been a blank website since I obtained ownership.
I also actually had to look the law firm up online to get contact information , as none was provided in the document.


Thanks for any and all advice.
 
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LdiJ

Senior Member
Today I received a Cease and desist letter from an out of state lawyers office. They state in the letter that my website has been using the trademarked phrase of their client and accused me of profiting from it. (For the record I am a domain investor and the domain name in question I acquired last month. I never put any content on the website, advertised or sold products on it. Even the domain name itself has no words nor phrases of their clients trademark.) To make matters more comical, the envelope that contained the document didn't even spell my last name correctly, nor did they correctly spell my name in the document itself. Along other misspellings of my email address that I registered the domain with.
The letter also states that I am to show proof of recorded sales and all profits earned by infringing on their clients trademarked phrase ( again I never sold or advertised on this website...No sales whatsoever.) and says their client is entitled to all lost profits up to 3 times the amounts...(3x0=0 last time I checked) ..There are a lot more threatening sentences in this letter but to keep things short, they gave me a week to write them back with me agreeing to all terms listed in the document, or they will proceed with litigation.

My question is what actions should I take, when the only thing Ive done was buy a domain name last month that contains none of the "phrase" in question nor has ever had any content/sales/or advertising on it... Its been a blank website since I obtained ownership.
I also actually had to look the law firm up online to get contact information , as none was provided in the document.


Thanks for any and all advice.
The letter did not contain a letterhead that included all of their contact information? If so, that is VERY odd and would lead me to believe that the letter did not actually come from the law firm in question. I would either be ignoring them at this point or consulting with a local attorney who can actually see the letter. There are attorneys who frequently challenge domain name owners who are "squatting" on domain names that could be linked to trademarks and/or celebrities. However, based on the lack of contact information and the fact that they did not address it as such, tends to indicate that it might be a scam.
 

single317dad

Senior Member
You should use the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to bring up an previous version of the website.

https://archive.org/web/

Maybe that will show you what they're actually suing over.

That doesn't mean they'll actually have a case against you, or that they won't; it will simply clarify (hopefully) the issue for you.

You should consult an IP attorney in your area to insure you didn't inherit any liabilities with your purchase of the domain.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Today I received a Cease and desist letter from an out of state lawyers office. They state in the letter that my website has been using the trademarked phrase of their client and accused me of profiting from it. (For the record I am a domain investor and the domain name in question I acquired last month. I never put any content on the website, advertised or sold products on it. Even the domain name itself has no words nor phrases of their clients trademark.) To make matters more comical, the envelope that contained the document didn't even spell my last name correctly, nor did they correctly spell my name in the document itself. Along other misspellings of my email address that I registered the domain with.
The letter also states that I am to show proof of recorded sales and all profits earned by infringing on their clients trademarked phrase ( again I never sold or advertised on this website...No sales whatsoever.) and says their client is entitled to all lost profits up to 3 times the amounts...(3x0=0 last time I checked) ..There are a lot more threatening sentences in this letter but to keep things short, they gave me a week to write them back with me agreeing to all terms listed in the document, or they will proceed with litigation.

My question is what actions should I take, when the only thing Ive done was buy a domain name last month that contains none of the "phrase" in question nor has ever had any content/sales/or advertising on it... Its been a blank website since I obtained ownership.
I also actually had to look the law firm up online to get contact information , as none was provided in the document.


Thanks for any and all advice.
What is the name of your state or, if not in the US, what is the name of your country?

There does not appear to be any actions for you to take at all right now.

If neither your domain name nor your website is using someone else's trademark (name, slogan, logo) OR one that is similar (in looks or when said aloud), and if your website is unused right now so that you have generated no income and have no profits, the individual or entity represented by the law firm (if it is a legitimate law firm) does not appear to have any legal action to pursue against you that would have much of a chance of success. :)

If the law firm continues to send cease and desist notices, or you receive a summons and complaint notifying you that a suit is being pursued (unlikely), that would be the time to contact a lawyer in your area and have the matter reviewed - although if you are concerned, you could have an attorney review the cease and desist notices now.

Good luck.
 

DNFront

Junior Member
The letter did not contain a letterhead that included all of their contact information? If so, that is VERY odd and would lead me to believe that the letter did not actually come from the law firm in question. I would either be ignoring them at this point or consulting with a local attorney who can actually see the letter. There are attorneys who frequently challenge domain name owners who are "squatting" on domain names that could be linked to trademarks and/or celebrities. However, based on the lack of contact information and the fact that they did not address it as such, tends to indicate that it might be a scam.
Yes, the only thing they had for representing themselves was the name of the firm and the city and state they are in... But no phone numbers or email addresses.
However I did find their company site online. It looks to be legit, However after reviewing the lawyer that sent the letter and the other partners profiles on the website, they are not licensed in my state.
I checked online for other people getting these letters from this particular firm, and sure enough there have been a few. But they actually did use the trademarked phrase with their products.
 
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DNFront

Junior Member
You should use the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to bring up an previous version of the website.

https://archive.org/web/

Maybe that will show you what they're actually suing over.

That doesn't mean they'll actually have a case against you, or that they won't; it will simply clarify (hopefully) the issue for you.

You should consult an IP attorney in your area to insure you didn't inherit any liabilities with your purchase of the domain.
Actually thats the first things that I did, was check archive.org and some other screen shot history sites. As far as what was documented from past owners of my domain, there is no record of them using the trademark in question. Although this domain is clothing related, and the trademark in question does not allow others to print this "phrase" on clothing. Perhaps the previous owners did some shady dealings with using the trademark, but from looking at the history it doesn't show it.
 
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DNFront

Junior Member
What is the name of your state or, if not in the US, what is the name of your country?

There does not appear to be any actions for you to take at all right now.

If neither your domain name nor your website is using someone else's trademark (name, slogan, logo) OR one that is similar (in looks or when said aloud), and if your website is unused right now so that you have generated no income and have no profits, the individual or entity represented by the law firm (if it is a legitimate law firm) does not appear to have any legal action to pursue against you that would have much of a chance of success. :)

If the law firm continues to send cease and desist notices, or you receive a summons and complaint notifying you that a suit is being pursued (unlikely), that would be the time to contact a lawyer in your area and have the matter reviewed - although if you are concerned, you could have an attorney review the cease and desist notices now.

Good luck.
Thanks, I'm not all that concerned about it. I'm just preparing myself in case something does escalate. But yes all they had to do was simply go to the website in question and they could plainly see there is no content on it.
It would had taken less time and trouble to do that , then send out the letter. Some people amaze me!
 
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quincy

Senior Member
Thanks, I'm not all that concerned about it. I'm just preparing myself in case something does escalate. But yes all they had to do was simply go to the website in question and they could plainly see there is no content on it.
It would had taken less time and trouble to do that , then send out the letter. Some people amaze me!
It is always good to be prepared.

Notices like the one you received CAN be a scam, like LdiJ mentioned in her post. These letters can confuse and worry recipients enough to do or to pay whatever it is that is demanded of them, though - especially when the letter is sent on attorney letterhead. And that is a big mistake.

Even when a legitimate cease and desist letter is received, no one should ever satisfy demands made in a letter without investigating the source of the letter and the reason behind its sending, and then seeking out an attorney for a personal review and advice.

Scams can be reported to your state's Attorney General.
 

STEPHAN

Senior Member
You are sure that during the registration process the provider did not put any ads on the page?
 

quincy

Senior Member
Sometimes internet providers put ads on an unused domain. These could be violation trademark rights.
Ah.

Well, DNFront said there is no content on the site, so there apparently is no ad or anything else that infringes the trademark, and DNFront also said the domain name itself does not have the trademark contained in the name. Using an non-infringing domain name to direct traffic to a website that has no content does not appear to be something that would/should generate a notice-of-infringement letter/cease-and-desist letter from a trademark holder.

The notice he received appears to be a scam or he has been targeted in error - unless DNFront HAD content on the site at one time and has since removed it. The removal of infringing content on its own can work to mitigate damages but will not prevent a lawsuit over content that was infringing before. That does not appear to be what DNFront is saying here, though.

And, again, sometimes a domain name will not resemble the trademark in looks but can infringe if, when saying the name aloud, it infringes on the mark (e.g., Adida = Ahdeeda) and other facts/factors are considered (e.g., the Ahdeeda site is selling athletic shoes and apparel).

There is just not enough to go on here to say anything for sure, but it sounds as if DNFront can ignore the letter he received at this point in time, or he can personally review the matter with an attorney in his area if he gets additional demand letters or the one he received concerns him.
 

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