Dell not only wants to take his domain name, they are suing for damages in the US and France. Read more about on the help Paul Dell win blog, or read the story in the Register.
that's pretty F'd up. I mean i saw the sight, it is in no way infringing on Dell Computer Corp's trademark. In fact, it has nothing to do with computers or computer parts. Last I checked Dell does not sell websites... and his last name IS dell. This is why I hate big corporations. I think I remember hearing something similiar about a dad getting sued because he had registered his daughters name and made a website about her and some company that had the same name as his daughter sued him. I think he ended up just giving in.
There may well come a time that big corporations who have the money can sue people for just about any use of tradenames even if folk named at birth! Ridiculous rubbish Dell, you're bigger than that!! Hey, there's a TV show with a guy called Dell-Boy and he buys and sells dodgy crap, maybe you should have a go at the producers on the grounds of .... blah blah blah! incorporating the name 'Dell'
Too weird. I just wrote a post today for realtors about the same thing. When it comes to trademarks, no one is fooling around.
For sure they are not kidding around.. It's a big big money game for them. The point is that trademarking common names to the extent where relevancy-of-trade no longer applies it will stifle creativity AND promote a whole new market in corporate revenue generation by law-suits alone. So much for being a good corporate citizen; when you're so big lawyers fees are just paltry in comparison to the domination of 'public' words, phrases or common-names to the degree this case could potentially enforce by-precident. It's not as if this company invented the word Dell. Heck, if the company can be named partly after the founder's name, why can't others use their names as part of their own non-related goods/services if suitably and reasonably differentiated by trade-title/description/nature of business? Its a travesty and I reckon it sets the wrong kind of general precident...
i think dell has a high chance of beating paul dell Dell.com was created on someday in 1988 dellwebsites.com was created on someday in 2001 I think the first one with the name trademark has rights to that name, alteast that is my opinion.
You know that would really bite, for instance my last name is Miller. I have a C corp called miller networks. I own millernetworks.net, and if Miller Brewing Corp came after me, I would shit a brick and be pissed too!
He should just add a disclaimer saying... "Dell Websites is not affiliated with nor endorsed by Dell Computer Corporation."
Youre right. But think about this: if the guy had his domain before dell.com had theirs, do you think he could take dell.com's domain? Nooooooo of course not. F dell man, I feel bad for the poor guy.
I haven't read anything beyond this thread, but isn't there a limited time period to bring about a lawsuit. It seems to me that the fact that he's been in business for 4 years would mitigate any chance Dell has of actually shutting his site down.
I don't even think it matters who started using the name first. The fact is if you have a site with somebody else's trademark in the url (even if its not exactly the same or a typo) they stand a 90% chance of being able to take it from you.
You guys never hear of the mikerowesoft.com case? Basically a man named Mike Rowe had to give up his site to Bill Gates.
The first to use the name, in that particular manner, owns the rights to the name. The fact that it is a persons real name makes no difference in trademark law. As an intellectual property rights attorney once explained it to me, allowing a person to infringe because it is their real name would open a can of worms: You would have companies seeking out some bum with the real name of a famous trademark and make them a limited partner just so they could use a famous name - or what about parents who name their child after a famous trademark? I went to school with a guy with the "real" last name of McDonald - should he be able to open up a business called "McDonald's Burgers"? I know a girl named "Tiffany" - Should she be able to have a business called "Tiffany's Jewelry"? - Trademark law, right or wrong, is clear on this - No. While it seems like Dell is going after the little guy, they are legally obligated to go after anyone, no matter how small, who is infringing upon their name or they risk losing their trademark - like Kleenex. The fact that they guy has been using the name for four years gives him no legal standing - the trademark holder must do something when it has come to their attention - even if it is 10 years down the road. To play devils advocate, is it possible the guy decided to use his real name as part of his business name only because of the brand awareness of Dell Computers? Is it possible a person could reasonably assume "dellwebsites.com" is associated with the famous "DELL"? This will be the key to the case, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the guy lose his domain name. Had he used the business name BEFORE Dell Computers, he wouldn't have any problems in using the name - in fact, he could probably have prevented Michael Dell from using his "real last name". He would have had a better chance of keeping the domain had he used "pauldellwebsites.com" - but I have a feeling he knew what he was doing when he decided not to.