Stolen business name?

That's a close call on being infringement but it is really rude.

Maybe you could start listing "Prim Savers" and "PrimSavers" (or whatever) in all your listings. Have it ALL come back to you!

simple phil. what u need to do is ad the letters TM to the end of ur company name. That trademarks your name "through use" a prerequiste for ultimatley registering ur name, getting the (R). now trademark through use offers u a few protections but not many. just slap the (tm) behind ur name on some signage, in some ads etc. SELL some furniture, and in a few months when you have a couple of hudred usd to spend, register ur trade mark and then you can make him stop using the name. till then u really can't do to much as trademarks are how you protect things like brand names

kitty is right!

Haven't been keeping up with that discussion....but it appears that someone took lessons directly from Phil, on how to slip some extremely effective keywords in....which is more telling than a name scrunched together.

If it is that important to you then get RL legal advice

Thank you for the replies.

I've done as some suggested (Des and others) and added (tm) to the main sign in my store and to each parcel's graphic in the About Land box.

I don't know if this bit was serious or not, since I'm clueless about these things, but in case it was...

I declare that 'Prim Savers' is a trademark of mine within Second Life.


I suppose it's a case of waiting to see what LL does with the AR.

I'll look into that tomorrow.

Yes - thank you for telling me about it.

To maintain a Cause of Action for trade name infringement, a plaintiff must establish that it owned the right to operate its business under a certain name and that the defendant violated this right by use of a deceptively similar name. The right to use a particular trade name ordinarily is established by priority of adoption. In states that require registration of trade names, a business may acquire the rights to a trade name by being the first to file for protection with the appropriate governmental office, usually the Secretary of State. In states that do not require registration, a business may acquire the rights to a trade name through public use, which means that the law will afford protection only if it can be demonstrated that a business and its trade name have become inseparable in the public's mind. Under federal law businesses may acquire the rights to a trade name only through regular and continued public use of an individual name. Federal law will not protect trade names that are used sporadically or irregularly.

Once a business has established the right to use a particular trade name, it must then prove that the defendant fraudulently attempted to pass itself off as the plaintiff through use of a deceptively similar name. Not every trade name that resembles an existing one will give rise to liability for infringement. The law will not forbid two unrelated businesses from using the same trade name so long as their coexistence creates no substantial risk of confusion among the public. For instance, two businesses may call themselves "Triple Play" if one business is a video store and the other is a sports bar and grill. By the same token, the law permits businesses in different geographic markets to use identical trade names, unless the good will and reputation of an existing business extend into the market where a new business has opened.

I had the same thing happen with our name. Someone came to my sim and they had the same name as ours with the exception of theirs were Sacred Hearts Wedding. Our's is Sacred Heart Weddings. Will said not make a stink over it t of it because it is commonly used irl. When I pointed out the similarity in the names, her response was "so sue me".

Most recently, I went to a sim solely to look at the adoption stuff and the owner contacted me saying I was spying on her. She said her business is called Sacred Heart Wedding. I explained that I was not spying and we have used the name for almost 2 years. I only came there because the land also had an adoption agency. I did tell her to get in line because there is at least one other "Sacred Heart Wedding". When I checked last, she changed her business' name and she banned me. But she also lost a potential adoption customer too. LOL.

Oh well.....

According to a story in Second Life Reuter's in 2007, Linden Lab policy at that time was that if someone files an Abuse Report against trademark infringement, they investigate it and remove the products.

However, it is not treated like a copyright infringement claim so merely making a statement that Prim Savers is your trademark in Second Life may not be sufficient. In a trademark infringement claim you have to provide specific uses that are covered by your claimed trademark, e.g. virtual furniture in the virtual reality environment known as "Second Life". You also have to provide proof of first use in commerce, e.g. record of your first sale of furniture in Second Life under the trade name "Prim Savers".

In the United States, if you had registered the trade name then Linden Lab would accept that as sufficient evidence because the USPTO screens out these requirements before issuing a registration number and certificate. Since you have not done that, you might have to jump through a few hoops with Linden Lab to prove that it is your trade name to its satisfaction.

/me wonders why Linden Lab could not just check its own records to see whether or not Phil has been trading under that name for ages.

There is a product for sale in SL by the name "Prim Saver".
http://world.secondlife.com/region/fbc6f01d-af8c-454d-973c-d6a40d354757
Google shows the date for that link of Dec. 27, 2007.

That would require effort on its part...

proving infringement on a registered trademark is a simple exercise...

a previous declaration of X company "doing business as" might be enough to satisfy it.

doing so in phils case is an exercise in tedium.... it'll take time, money and effort.... and may or may not accomplish anything.

on the plus side LL has stated policies about using largely similar names, so are likely to support that part of any action.

and of course you may still be able to scare the competitor off with a legal notice. especially if a legal filing seems too much trouble to them.

If Second Life is supposed to be a place where one can set up shop to make "real money," the lack of a business name registration service in Second Life is a serious deficiency.

I don't think the trade name issue is so easy from a legal standpoint, there are a lot more requirements for getting trade name or trademark protection other than being the first to use the name or the mark.

However, the DMCA process works to your advantage. In making the claim, you do not have to make a statement as to your legal standing, just to the facts that support your trade name. Pick up a nutshell book on Intellectual Property law, look up that statutes, and then make your factual statements in a way that follows the language of the law and hits all the requirements. That ought to be enough to get Linden Lab to take down the competitor trying to leech off your name, and then the inertia is with you as he has to file his counter-claim or lie down (and he probably lies down, because he will assume the law is on your side).

Ethically we should all support Phil, even if his other statements on gaming are questionable "Two wrongs don't make a right" and in this case I think it's pretty clear that the names and business are similar.

If not, I bags "Prims Saver" and the slogan "saves you more than the others"

That's a temp rezzer so it's not a problem.

Heh. I just found another one but not quite the same. This one has cut a 192m parcel on Furniture Island (a sim) and copied & pasted my store's Name and Description, presumably for search purposes. I've IMed the owner, asking for it to be changed so that it's not "passing off" as my store. I'll give her a few days to do it. If she doesn't, I'llAR it.

Someone from this thread PMed me with some information - no name in case s/he doesn't want it to be known as the info isn't posted here.

Even if the the PrimSavers guy genuinely doesn't believe that his business name is the same as mine because of the missing space, he is certainly doing his best with my name *with* the space. He has 12 shelves set to show in search but not for sale, with names like "Prim Savers - Angle Shelf Left - 4 Changing Textures" (without quotes). They are there for search, of course, and they get him ranking at #12 for Prim Savers.

Phil

It's not against TOS, Its a resident to resident dispute (no LL involvement) and its not trademark infringement unless you have paid your roughly 500USD to retain 'Prim Savers' as your trademark from the government.

Trademarks in SL are tricky because it is multi-national and you would need to get a global trademark to protect yourself from foreign 'PrimSavers -- which is big bucks.
Your best bet is to reason with the guy and see if he'll budge. Make him an offer he can't refuse. I think I have a sculpted horse head somewhere.

Cheers

*There are at least 46 Ray's Pizzas in NYC in some variation or another.

Your avatar name is your "free" trademark and registered business name in SL.

Nobody can take that from you. (except LL)

"Prim Saver Homes by Phil Deakins" is pretty obvious. If someone made a business called "PrimSaver Homes by Phil Deakins" and they were not Phil and the builds were not by Phil then the matter would sort itself out pretty quick when potential customers began asking for Phil and Phil's work.

But if you are making $500 a week net profit for your work in SL then you should not be wasting any time about registering trademarks. It is worth it if for nothing else than the mark of a professional business. I wish I made enough to justify a trademark registration lol. But in my case my work is known more by my avatar name so it is pretty much irrelevant for me.

That would be abuse of the DMCA.

You can't trademark a common term (eg, the previously mentioned 'botanical gardens') but you can trademark a combination of common terms (like Sacred Heart Wedding).

Wow!!! Can you? I didn't know that. I will mention this to Will. Thanks Argent.

I declair a T.S.D Virtual Outfitters copyright trademark and whatever else mark I can claim. so be it.