Help Me Please! Donald Trump has Got after Me! Please Read ***

Hi Guys,
I am in a bit of trouble and need your advice at the earliest.

Actually I have a well maintained blog - CashTrump.com

My Logo is: Your Trump card to Online money making success!

By the Word Trump I mean to refer to the Trump card not Donald Trump and the difference is quiet clear if you visit the site.

But today the legal Team of Mr. Donald Trump , one of the richest people on earth threatened to sue me and take me to court for using their Trademark.

I feel totally harassed and caught in the cold- cause I don't have a lawyer or anything. I live in Bangkok but currently I am in Pakistan for Job related work.

I feel their case is totally wrong because a trademark on 'Trump' entitles them to protection from copyrights infringement where a person is trying to benefit from Donald trump's brand name NOT when somebody's generally using the word referring to the Trump card in the cards game!

To add to my worries these guys want me to transfer the domain to them for FREE, otherwise they will screw me!!. Are they not exploiting?


PLEASE HELP ME AND SHED SOME LIGHT ON THIS MATTER. I'LL BE VERY GRATEFUL. BELOW I AM PASTING THE EXACT EMAIL I GOT FOR DONALD TRUMP'S LEGAL STAFF:




EMAIL from Donald Trump's official website:

------------------------------------​

To Whom It May Concern:

The TRUMP® name is internationally known and famous as a result of Mr. Trump’s long, extensive, and high-profile business activities. Mr. Trump is the owner of the TRUMP® name as a trademark, as well as many trademarks that incorporate the TRUMP® name, all of which we scrupulously protect.
With this background in mind, it has come to my attention that you have registered the domain name cashtrump.com. Your unauthorized use of such domain name constitutes willful trademark infringement and cyber piracy. Such unauthorized use of the TRUMP® name described above will inevitably cause confusion in the public’s mind and dilute and tarnish the value of the TRUMP® mark. Your use of the TRUMP® mark violates Mr. Trump's common law and federal trademark rights, including, inter alia, under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125. The Lanham Act provides that Mr. Trump may recover (1) your profits, (2) any damages sustained by Mr. Trump, and (3) the costs of bringing an action against you (which may be tripled by the reviewing court).

Additionally, your illegal registration and use of the infringing domain names subjects you to liability under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, 15. U.S.C. § 1125(d) (“ACPA”). ACPA renders a person liable in a civil action who, in bad faith, registers a domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to the trademark of another person. Your liability to Trump under ACPA is in the amount of up to $100,000 per domain name registration. 15 U.S.C. § 1117(d).

Mr. Trump considers this to be a very serious matter and has authorized our legal team to take all necessary and appropriate actions to bring an immediate halt to your blatant and unauthorized use of his trademarks. In the interest of avoiding what will certainly be a costly litigation process for you, we are prepared to offer you the one-time opportunity to rectify this matter by providing us with your prompt written assurances, to be received no later than 6-29-09 that:
(1) you have immediately ceased all uses of Mr. Trump’s name and the TRUMP® trademark; and
(2) you agree not to associate Mr. Trump’s name and/or the TRUMP® trademark with you or your commercial activities in any way, at any point in the future; and
(3) you will immediately transfer your infringing domain names to my client.
If we do not receive these assurances by 6-29-09, we will pursue all remedies available to us at law or in equity against you.
I look forward to your prompt written response. Please e-mail me at your earliest convenience if you would like to discuss this matter further. This letter is sent without waiver of or prejudice to my client’s rights with respect to this matter, all of which are hereby expressly reserved.

 

You could probably fight this, but if it goes beyond emails and letters, you will need a lawyer. Where is the site hosted ? Thailand ? Pakistan ? Neither one of those countries really give a damn about Trademark and Copyright.

Pakistan has been on the Special 301 Watch List since 1989.

If they have no right to enforce Trademark in the country in which you are a citizen, or where the site is hosted, they will have to take it up with ICANN, which will take some time, and may not be worth it to them if you explain your use.

Write them back explaining that your site has nothing to do with Donald Trump, you don't even discuss Donald Trump, and include the definition of what a "trump" card is.

You are going to have to do your own homework if you want to save it, and determine if they really have a right to seize every domain with Trump in it, or just those with certain uses.

If they have claim to everything that has to do with Trump, then you are screwed/ Just give it up.

Just make sure that you know for certain that they have the right to do this. Don't just roll over because they sent an "Official" letter.

FYI, Donald Trump is far from the richest man in the world.

 

They just want to take your unique domain name. I guess you can fight this and give damm to them.

 

As you said I am trying to research the matter in full. Donald Trump's Team is trying to exploit me because I am a Common Man and they are a Multi-Billion Dollar Group. But I won't give up the fight very easily! Please people - Keep Helping me!

 

I don't think that this any conspiracy from the man to keep you down. I am sure Trumps legal dept has much better things to do than to waste time on something that has no monetary value for them, and (no offense) could care less about you personally.... What they are doing is their job to protect the brand, that is why they are on salary.

They probably send these letters out on autopilot anytime something resembles a Trademark violation.

Reply and see the response, then you will see how serious they are, and what kind of case they think they have.

 

Your view point is extremely enlightening, and yes I have given them a response. Also contacted a Lawyer who feels that their case is garbage and that if they take it on we can even sue them for 'exploitations and mental torture'. Lets c how they respond. But please guys keep pouring in your comments - Just tell me what do you feel - R they right or not? this way i'll get to know a but more.

Also can u tell me about any Legal Issues forum that has lots of lawyers in it?

 

Lol, mind sharing the email address? Theres a hotel/bar/casino in the town I was born in called the Trump Inn and I would love to see what would happen with that!

 

linkbait

 

You're in Thailand. I would ignore them. If they want the domain they can do a UDRP which I believe you can successfully win. Suing you in the USA won't get them one cent. Suing you in Thailand probably won't even get them any money.

imho...ignore them.

 

You are absolutely right. Best of all I'm in Pakistan these days. Not only will they not get any money suing me here (since domain names are unprotected in Pakistan's constitution) they will probably die in a BOmb blast lol....

But I am scared that my domain host (godaddy) will give them the domain without the UDRP process. What do you say?

 

They didn't even WhoIs search you to find out your real name. This e-mail may not even be legit.

 

My domain is on a 'Privacy On' mode. You can't find my identity with whois search. Secondly, the email came from the official domain of Trump group.

xxxx@trumporg.com

So it definitely is not a scam!

 

I just searched WhoIs and found your full name, and current residence in Pakistan. Try it for yourself on GoDaddy.

Your real name is right on your blog page too.

If you did have private registration, it may have been cancelled, especially if it was DomainsByProxy.com because GoDaddy owns that company. Trumporg.com may have asked for your information, and then GoDaddy.com may have cancelled your private registration.

 

Forget it! Sounds like a bunch of junk to me.

They have no case with the way you are using that domain.

Not to mention the fact that your location is practically inaccessible to them.

 

You are aware they can file to have your domain terminated and placed in their name with Icann rite?

They have a policy which allows trademark owners to claim the domain which infringes their trademark last time I checked. Your not aware of how serious these types of people take trademarks and with your site being hosted on the hostgator networks expect them and godaddy to back Trump.

 

If no one has returned your e-mail then the may have been spoofed. It's not difficult to forge e-mail headers to make them look like they are coming from someone else. You may have just e-mailed the real trumporg.com.

 

I hate these people that think that they can own a common word.
I guess I should try and trademark home computer games....

Tell them you will sell it to them for $10K to recover your expenses.

 

Donald Trump is notorious for trademarking really vague generic terms, his most recent attempt was to trademark "You're Fired" - but it got rejected by a judge who realized how dumb it would be to allow that since it could mean employers around the world having to pay royalties for using the phrase.

The name Trump however is a different story, I think he has the trademark on it - and he uses it on things like Trump Ice (failing brand of bottled water) as well as the Trump Tower and Trump lines (a series of expensive condos scattered across the US and Canada).

You can try to fight it - but you'll likely lose. Other option is to ignore it but you better be hosted somewhere asides from North America and Europe and countries co-operating with them. Also you'll need to find a registrar that doesn't care about trademarks (good luck with that one).

Always do your research, maintaining a trademark means you have to go after any use of your name otherwise you risk losing it.

 

Not really sure what you are talking about. While Donald Trump may not personally own the trademark, there are many people who own registered trademarks in the term "you're fired", including the production company behind his TV show.

JMBP, Inc., owns one. That is the the production company of show creator Mark Burnett. His registration # is: 78371659, and it is a LIVE mark.

They also have registered the mark for different category of goods. Those numbers are: 3269040 and 3245341 and 78976168.​

 

The important thing to know when it comes to domain names and trademark is CONTEXT. If you had a site called applesite.com that sold computers, you could be in trouble with the Apple company. If you sold actual apples, however, you'd be ok. I was in hot water earlier this year for a similar situation and I won.

In order for them to prove that you registered your site name in "bad faith", they must prove that you are using it in the same context as they would if they owned it. In your case, I would suggest turning the site into an actual card game site. Pick a game that really uses a trump card. Game sites like Pogo.com have many games with trump cards.

Make sure your site content is entirely different from anything that has to do with the "make money" genre.