|
heatherr Noel
Registered User
Join date: 30 Jul 2007
Posts: 54
|
05-09-2009 14:06
i have a question, and i can't seem to find the answer and LL's usual "file a report" response in live chat gets nowhere, needless to say most AR reports go nowhere...
Question is, i own an animation business inworld. i primarily cater to the "roleplay" areas in SL, and therefore my business name was named as such when created, "Animations Roleplay". There is a competitor in the same business, who was doing this before i came in, in the roleplay area as well, that has RECENTLY put the words "animations roleplay" into their name field on their business parcel, as well as having a friend of theirs who owns a roleplay market, put in their description on that parcel "animations roleplay", due to the fact that market hosts advertising for that friend's business. Is there a link someone can provide as to whether or not that is allowed, or perhaps "infringing" and/or deceiving players into thinking that they are Animations Roleplay? When putting in the search field "animations roleplay", their name appears first and, of course, higher in traffic due to "bots", but should this be allowed? Where can i get solid information on this and do something about it? i think the best and most fair thing to do, to avoid any legal actions, would be to NOT include someone else's name in their name field. To put in the DESCRIPTION field i can understand to be fair, but, in a way that "animations roleplay" does not flow together, as they have made it do..it's unfair, deceitful and all around not a good tactic. Here is information i found on "Unfair Trade Practice" and i'd like to know if this is what is happening perhaps? "unfair competition n. wrongful, fraudulent and/or business methods to gain an unfair advantage over competitors, including: a) untrue or misleading advertising or promotion which misrepresent the nature, characteristics, qualities or geographic origin (such as where wine comes from), b) misleading customers by imitative trademark, name, or package, including trademark infringement, c) falsely disparaging another's product. Under federal statute (Lanham Act) and many state laws, unfair competition is the basis for a legal action (suit) for damages and/or an injunction to halt the deceptive practices against an unfair competitor if the practices tend to harm one's business. (See: trademark, infringement, fraud)
Pay careful attention to b) above, as i think this is where it applies? Thanks very much to all those who reply
|
|
Snickers Snook
Odd Princess - Trout 7.3
Join date: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 746
|
05-09-2009 14:37
Is your store name descriptive of what you make? If so, then you have no leg (or pose ball) to stand on. You cannot prevent someone from being descriptive about their products or services simply because that's the name of your business.
_____________________
 Buh-bye forums, it's been good ta know ya.
|
|
Chris Norse
Loud Arrogant Redneck
Join date: 1 Oct 2006
Posts: 5,735
|
05-09-2009 14:43
There is no such thing as unfair competition. Make a better product and sell it at a good price.
_____________________
I'm going to pick a fight William Wallace, Braveheart
“Rules are mostly made to be broken and are too often for the lazy to hide behind” Douglas MacArthur
FULL
|
|
Amity Slade
Registered User
Join date: 14 Feb 2007
Posts: 2,183
|
05-09-2009 14:48
If Linden Lab won't help you, the federal trade practices laws probably do you no good, unless you want to shell out the money for a lawyer.
You can have a trademark without registering it. However, there are certain conditions to meet to have a protectable trademark if you have not registered it. This is off the top of my head without looking it up, but I think you are going to need to show that you have operated under your trade mark for a significant period of time and have built up some sort of goodwill and recognition for your product under the trade name. That's going to be hard for any SL business, because so many have been around for only a short period of time (1-2 years is a short period of time), and because it just has to be so hard to measure how much of a connection you have established between your trade mark and your unique products.
I think you're on the right track, but your next bit of research would be to see what you need to establish to show that you actually have a protectable trade mark.
|
|
Desmond Shang
Guvnah of Caledon
Join date: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 5,250
|
05-09-2009 14:51
From: Chris Norse There is no such thing as unfair competition. Make a better product and sell it at a good price. We, the FIC, endorse this message.* *The FIC do not exist. Ask anyone. Especially us!
_____________________
 Steampunk Victorian, Well-Mannered Caledon!
|
|
Briana Dawson
Attach to Mouth
Join date: 23 Sep 2003
Posts: 5,855
|
05-09-2009 15:09
From: heatherr Noel ... b) misleading customers by imitative trademark, name, or package, including trademark infringement...
Pay careful attention to b) above, as i think this is where it applies? Thanks very much to all those who reply You have no Trademark. You have no exclusive usage rights for the word combination of "Animations Roleplay". No legal ground.
|
|
heatherr Noel
Registered User
Join date: 30 Jul 2007
Posts: 54
|
05-09-2009 15:35
From: Amity Slade If Linden Lab won't help you, the federal trade practices laws probably do you no good, unless you want to shell out the money for a lawyer.
You can have a trademark without registering it. However, there are certain conditions to meet to have a protectable trademark if you have not registered it. This is off the top of my head without looking it up, but I think you are going to need to show that you have operated under your trade mark for a significant period of time and have built up some sort of goodwill and recognition for your product under the trade name. That's going to be hard for any SL business, because so many have been around for only a short period of time (1-2 years is a short period of time), and because it just has to be so hard to measure how much of a connection you have established between your trade mark and your unique products.
I think you're on the right track, but your next bit of research would be to see what you need to establish to show that you actually have a protectable trade mark. Thanks very much..that helped! Incidentally, the person who did that, has removed the verbiage and agreed it should not have been there and said it was "unintentional"...ill give the benefit of the doubt as i usually do 
|
|
heatherr Noel
Registered User
Join date: 30 Jul 2007
Posts: 54
|
there IS such thing as Unfair Competition...
05-09-2009 15:37
From: Desmond Shang We, the FIC, endorse this message.* *The FIC do not exist. Ask anyone. Especially us! FYI: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Unfair+trade+practice[url]
|
|
Desmond Shang
Guvnah of Caledon
Join date: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 5,250
|
05-09-2009 16:06
Well of course there is.
You might be a bit new to get the joke I was making though; it has a bit to do with some rather old SL history.
_____________________
 Steampunk Victorian, Well-Mannered Caledon!
|
|
Yumi Murakami
DoIt!AttachTheEarOfACat!
Join date: 27 Sep 2005
Posts: 6,860
|
05-09-2009 16:38
From: Desmond Shang Well of course there is.
You might be a bit new to get the joke I was making though; it has a bit to do with some rather old SL history. I think they actually mixed up the Feted Inner Core and the Federal Trade Commission, which is perhaps one of the most unintentionally hilarious things I've read on SL. 
|
|
Darien Caldwell
Registered User
Join date: 12 Oct 2006
Posts: 3,127
|
05-09-2009 17:15
From: Yumi Murakami I think they actually mixed up the Feted Inner Core and the Federal Trade Commission, which is perhaps one of the most unintentionally hilarious things I've read on SL.  I don't know the FTC can be Pretty FIC sometimes. Just see what they keep doing with their sales of airwave frequencies to the telecoms. ;p
|