That
does it. From this point on, whenever I
want anything to happen in "The Journey",
I will announce that nothing is going to
happen for a bit…
…which
is seemingly THE wake-up call for the
"Journey Gods" to strike. This is a first
for the newly named "Norman" the Random
GOD. He's brought us a doozy. Take a look
at what I got in the mail a couple days
ago...
FULBRIGHT
& JAWORSKI L.L.P.
A
REGISTERED LIMITED LIABILITY
PARTNERSHIP
555 SOUTH FLOWER
STREET
FORTY-FIRST
FLOOR
LOS ANGELES,
CALIFORNIA 90071
WWW.FULBRIGHT.COM
JRAWLS@FULBRIGHT.COM
TELEPHONE:
(213) 892-9200
DIRECT
DIAL: (213) 892-9285
FACSIMILE:
(213) 892-9494
February
21, 2006
VIA CERTIFIED
AND U.S. MAIL
Mr. Adam
Kontras ***** ***** ****
*******
********, California *****
Re:
Amazon.com/Adamazon.com
Dear Mr.
Kontras:
This firm
represents Amazon.com, Inc. ("Amazon.com"), the owner
of the famous AMAZON.COM® trademark, which is
registered in the United States and in numerous
countries around the world. Amazon.com has asked us to
contact you concerning your continued use of a
variation of the AMAZON.COM® trademark, despite
prior communications from Amazon.com. We write to make
one final request that you cease this unauthorized use
of Amazon.com's intellectual property.
Charmaine
Velasco of Amazon.com's intellectual property group
previously wrote to you to explain that, although
Amazon.com does not object to your operation of a
"parody" site at the URL <4tvs.com>, your use of
the <adamazon.com> domain name in connection
with that site violates Amazon.com's trademark rights.
Ms. Velasco asked that you agree to transfer the
<adamazon.com> domain name to Amazon.com and
refrain from registering any domain names that are
confusingly similar to the AMAZON.COM® trademark
in the future. To date, you have not agreed to
transfer the domain name or to provide the
representations of discontinuance that Ms. Velasco
requested.
In order to
avoid the necessity of formal legal action to protect
Amazon.com's rights, I take this opportunity to
explain the basis of Amazon.com's
position.
Amazon.com
strictly limits the circumstances under which it gives
permission to third parties to make use of its marks.
Amazon.com imposes this limitation to ensure, among
other things, that the public does not form the
mistaken impression that Amazon.com has some
relationship or affiliation with particular persons or
groups, or endorses their activities or
products.
25590389.1
HOUSTON
o NEW YORK o WASHINGTON DC o AUSTIN o DALLAS o LOS
ANGELES o MINNEAPOLIS o SAN ANTONIO o HONG KONG o
LONDON o MUNICH
Mr. Adam
Kontras
February 21,
2006
Page
2
You have
registered a domain name that is an extremely close
variation on the AMAZON.COM® mark, and have
pointed the domain name to a commercial Web site that
copies virtually every original design element found
on the genuine Amazon.com Site, and offers products
directly competitive with those offered on the genuine
<amazon.com> Web site.* Amazon.com is concerned
that your use of a domain name that differs by only
two characters from the AMAZON.COM® trademark and
corresponding domain name is likely to confuse and
misdirect consumers who are looking for the genuine
Amazon.com site; among other things, consumers can
easily make a typing mistake when attempting to enter
the <amazon.com> domain name into their Internet
browsers. Such misdirection constitutes, among other
things, trademark infringement, even if consumers are
able to ascertain that your site is not affiliated
with Amazon.com prior to making a purchase. See
Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Netscape Communications
Corp., 354 F.3d 1020 (9th Cir. 2004) (creation of
"initial interest confusion" creates liability for
trademark infringement).
You can easily
remedy the risk of harm to the Amazon.com trademark
that has been created by your use of <adamazon.com;
simply cease pointing the <adamazon.com> domain
name to your Web site, and transfer the domain name to
Amazon.com. If you do so, and agree in writing not to
register any confusingly similar domain names in the
future, Amazon.com is prepared to release its claims
against you and raise no objection to the operation of
your "parody" site at the <4tvs.com> domain
name. We ask that you contact me within ten (10) days
of the date of this letter to arrange for the transfer
of the <adamazon.com> domain name to
Amazon.com.
We hope that
you will cooperate in our effort to reach an amicable
resolution of this matter without the necessity of
formal legal proceedings. Should you have any
questions regarding Amazon.com's position, please
contact me at the number listed above. Pending further
agreement between us, however, nothing contained in
this letter is intended or should be construed as an
admission or waiver of any rights or remedies
Amazon.com may have, all of which are hereby expressly
reserved.
____________________________
*We are aware that
you have stated that your site is non-commercial. This
is incorrect. Your site invites customers to purchase
audio cassettes, compact discs and DVDs by clicking on
an "add to cart" button directing viewers to a Paypal
site.
25590389.1
HOUSTON
o NEW YORK o WASHINGTON DC o AUSTIN o DALLAS o LOS
ANGELES o MINNEAPOLIS o SAN ANTONIO o HONG KONG o
LONDON o MUNICH
As you may
remember, 2 years ago
(Entry
348 entitled "Amazon's
Pissed"),
I received an email from Charmaine Velasco of
Amazon.com's intellectual property group saying
basically the same thing. I wrote back to her saying I
felt it was within "Fair Use" as a parody of their
site and left the email open-ended as far as a way to
resolve things.
I
found it strange that their biggest gripe
(then) was that the name "amazon" was
within Adamazon
and they wanted it. Now of course they've
written one hell of a well thought out
letter on every possible infringement.
Props to the Fulbright & Jaworski
Lawfirm btw, as that was no "Cease &
Desist" form letter - Amazon's
getting their money's worth. Of course
they're going after a guy who has made $17
since their first letter 2 years ago, but
at least it's well-written.
LOL.
To be fair, they
have no problem with me keeping the pages up on my
site, as long as Adamazon.com points to THEM…but
I'm just FLOORED that it means that much to them.
However knowing that, and knowing the money they're
spending right now to get Adamazon brings a bit of a
smile to my face. Let's be honest: I'm nobody. I mean
REALLY nobody. They however, are somebody - so there's
a lot of room to make everyone happy here. What if
Adamazon.com did point to their site…where
my stuff was available? Allowing them to profit? For
example, a guy bought "Stevebay.com" and pointed it to
ebay.com where he sells stuff. He makes money, Ebay
makes money. That would help me (much moreso than what
Adamazon is now) and it would give them the control
over that name that they want.
There has to be
something in it for me. Because sitting in my
shoes? The prospect of an actual legal battle looks
mighty fine to a guy who has had literally no
exposure…EVER. I am hard pressed to not look at
this as an opportunity to play "Little man vs.
Corporate Machine" for all it's worth. Luckily for
them, I have no personal vendettas against big
business (unless it's Haliburton) and am more than
willing to find a solution. Worst case scenario, I
take out the "add to cart" button (no one ever pushes
it anyway - LOL), but I think everything else easily
falls under "fair use". Bottom line is, I don't find
their solution of just giving it up reasonable or
fair, since it can be argued that I'm even in the
wrong. So they're gonna have to come up with something
better than that. I'll work on something to email to
them, or maybe I should just wait a bit more.
Either way, I'll of course keep everyone
updated.
Thaaaaaaaaaaaanks
Journey Gods, I was almost just Adam for a couple
months. :-)
