[thelist] Re: copyright/trademark

Techwatcher techwatcher at accesswriters.com
Sat Apr 27 13:58:10 CDT 2002


Jake --

I am also not a lawyer, but did establish my own company (and its
TRADEMARK, unregistered). This guy David (below) is absolutely correct
about trademarks, copyrights, etc. And, even though you quickly wrote
back to say you would remove your site, he's right on that, too -- you
are not obliged to follow through on your statement, as a minor who
can't enter into contracts legally (again, I am NOT a lawyer, so check
what I'm saying).

The guy who wrote to you doesn't have any right to exclusive use of an
unregistered trademark UNLESS he can show it's been in use (very
unlikely if they're just starting up), and your product is in a
competing field, and could cause their "customers/clients" to become
confused.

Cheers --
Carol

> David wrote
> (www.confluentforms.com)

> He can "mention it to his lawyers" all he wants, but while he just
> established the LLC, he doesn't have the grounds of misplaced
trademark and
> dilution of existing brand.  If you feel overwhelmed as a student,
maybe
> this'll make you feel better.  His registered corporate address is an
apt.
> in brooklyn.  I could go over there and egg his house...
>
> But seriously.  1. He doesn't know what he's talking about and 2. He's
> bluffing.  If he's a newly established LLC (which stands for Limited
> Liability Corporation btw), it's doubtful he has the time and money
to raise
> the rates for a lawyer to even try to win this.  There is no legal
reason
> why you would need to give the domain to him unless you blatantly
registered
> it as a squatter.
>
> Tell him that you're sorry that he registered a company with the same
name
> as your web site, but that you're not renaming your site unless
convinced
> otherwise.  And just so you know, his TM (the name "BionicMonkey")
isn't
> registered yet, and I highly doubt he registered it in the UK.  Also,
he
> never copyrighted the name in 2000, but bought the domain name in
2000.  Big
> difference.  I also just searched the loc.gov database and "Bionic
Monkey"
> is not a registered name.
>

> From: "Lauri Vain" <lauri_vain at tharapita.com>
> To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
> Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2002 19:25:56 +0300
> Organization: Tharapita Creations
> Subject: [thelist] PayPal: Instant Payment Notification
> Reply-To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
>
> Hello there,
>
> Has anybody worked with PayPal's Instant Payment Notification?
>
> How exactly does it work -- will the payer ever go to PayPal's site
> itself (and leave my site for a sec) or will all contact with PayPal's
> servers be handled by my script?
>
> I have to write a system that enables payments via this service, but
I'm
> low on documentation and this service is a new one for me.
>
> An overview of the process and pointers would be great!
>
> Thanks,
> Lauri
>

Hi, Lauri --

I use Paypal myself a lot, as an ebayer (buyer!). In general, they
provide nice links for you to embed on your site.

In one kind of processing (casual), the client (me) goes to Paypal, but
in an opened (target="_blank"?) window, and only has to enter the e-
mail name of the payee,and maybe enter some other data, like the price.

In another kind of processing, the payer (me) gets an e-mail and simply
clicks proper buttons which basically automates the entire thing:
You want to pay $.. for item .. to this person .. from this account
(credit card/bank account).

I'm sure they will be happy to tell you all about how to automate your
processing via their facilities. I'm very happy with them myself, since
I never use credit cards, and this way I can use my credit union
account and its use is insured the same way a bank account is insured.
(Note that it's not insured as a credit card is, where the credit card
might stand by you in a fight with a seller... it's just insured that
your funds won't be stolen, as with a bank. Like writing a check,
really.)

Cheers --
Carol Stein
techwatcher at accesswriters.com



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