ok this is the deal i registerd anti-ebay.com on jan 6 2004 i made it a auction site. i submitted it to google adwords and also i submitted it to worldwidepromoterand a few friends who have high trageted traffic . well in one week i had 22k in clicks from adwords. i got 456 sellers to sign up and had about 200 auctions runing and my alexa ranking shot thru the roof in just 7 days. well this morning i got this email from ebay:
We are writing concerning your registration and use of the domain name anti-ebay.com, which contains the famous eBay trademark.
As you undoubtedly know, eBay is the leading provider of online person-to-person trading services and related goods and services. eBay adopted the name and trademark eBay in September 1995 and, since that time, eBay has actively used the eBay name and trademark in connection with its online trading and related services, including maintaining the web site
www.eBay.com. The coined term eBay is one of the most famous trademarks on the Internet. eBay owns exclusive trademark rights to the eBay name in the United States and internationally, including related common law rights. Accordingly, eBay enjoys broad trademark rights in its name.
eBay has made a substantial investment in developing and providing its services. As a result of eBay?s pioneering efforts and devoting substantial effort and resources to providing only high quality services, the eBay name and trademarks are widely known among the consuming public worldwide, and the name and trademarks embody substantial and valuable goodwill.
Accordingly, we were concerned when we learned of your registration and use of anti-ebay.com. As we hope you can appreciate, protection of its trademarks is very important to eBay. Your registration and use of anti-ebay.com violates the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.) because it infringes and dilutes the famous eBay trademark.
Infringement occurs when a third party?s use of a company?s trademark (or a confusingly similar variation thereof) is likely to confuse consumers as to the affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement of the third party?s services. Trademark dilution occurs when a third party?s use of a variation of a company?s trademark is likely to lessen the distinctiveness of the company?s famous trademark.
We have filed several successful federal court actions in the United States against companies and individuals employing the famous eBay trademark in their domain names, as well as more than six proceedings before the United Nation's World Intellectual Property Organization's arbitration panel. eBay has prevailed in each case and the domain names at issue were all ordered to be transferred to eBay.
In addition to the above, the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") has recently denied registration of the mark "ebaysecurities" by a third party. Like your domain name, "ebaysecurities" incorporated the entire eBay trademark, adding only a generic term to eBay's famous mark. The USPTO recognized that eBay is a famous trademark and therefore denied registration of ebaysecurities. eBay is concerned that your unauthorized use of the eBay name may cause confusion as to whether you or your company?s activities are authorized, endorsed or sponsored by eBay when, in fact, they are not.
We understand that you may have registered anti-ebay.com without full knowledge of the law in this area. However, eBay is concerned about your use of the eBay trademark in your domain name. As you may know, the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (
http://www.submerged-ideas.com/litig...cybersquat.htm) provides for serious penalties (up to $100,000 per domain name) against persons who, without authorization, use, sell, or offer for sale a domain name that infringes another?s trademark.