Got a Cease and desist letter, help

As is shown in the picture, we have a domain name ciscoprice.com that contain the trademark "CISCO".
Now we have changed the domain name.

Is there anything else we have to do?

 

You have to do what the document says! Have you transferred the domain name to them?

 

This is BS. They cannot do this (legally). If I, for instance, wanna register Ciscoreviews.com I would be allowed to do so (given that the name is available, of course). They own the name for their products, but not the general use of the name. I highly doubt they've trademarked the name for every conceivable market.

Ciscoprice being what, exactly? A price comparison for Cisco products? That would be within fair use, I guess.

 

They do not need to cover absolutely every conceivable market.
all they need to do is cover the the main markets ie: routers, electronics, etc...
If he sold apple pies made by Mr Cisco, then I doubt he would have issues...
even if not related, cisco has more money then god, and you really want
to setup Cisco Apple pie company, then take the chance on a challenge....?

and it is obvious the op setup a site with intent for cisco router lookup...
His better option would have been something like RouterLookup.com
or something generic, thus leaving all name brands off the table...

 

Again, as long as he doesn't himself sell routers, and/or earn anything by pushing customers in specific directions, this is still bullshit.

 

I have to agree with the company's lawyer on this one. Turn it over, don't fight it.

 

Hey, I am going to give you an example of screw them.
Visit nissan.com
You'd think it's Nissan cars but it ain't.
This guy is trying to shove it you know where in Nissan's you know what.
It's up to you dude.
Either give in or fight.

 

Wow, pretty cool though most small entrepreneurs do not have the time and/or the money to put up such a fight. I wish nissan.com well and hope that they succeed. Now back to making money...

 

Don't get your legal advice on a forum. Talk to an IP attorney and get their professional advice.

However, if it were me and this website was not popular / not generating much revenue, then I would not bother fighting it and would just shutdown the website.

 

Hi Markxu,

First, I am not an attorney. I concur with JeffMichaels, do not get legal advice on a forum. With that said, you got a few directions to go here. You can take the "principle" route here and fight this....and you will lose no matter what. If you win the suit, you can keep the name, but you are out of pocket THOUSANDS of dollars in legal expense, even if you win (a decent defense attorney is $250 an hour minimum, your case will be at least 20-40 hours of work easy....I speak from experience here). Is that worth it? If it is, then so be it. But then again, you can lose, and it gets worse. That "company" that is claiming the infringement can also claim damages. If they prove damages, go get yourself a bankruptcy attorney because you can lose just about everything.

So what can you do going forward? Well first step in getting a name is NOT seeing if the domain is taken...it is seeing if the NAME is taken. For this, you need a lawyer (paralegal usually) who can do a name search with the US PTO (Patent Trademark Office). Once you get the clearance here, you get a piece of paper saying you own the name. Then look for a domain name and take it. If someone ELSE already has taken this domain name BUT doesn't have the claim to it that you have, then YOU have a case and can get after them.

Hope this helps.

 

not too hard to find out to be honest

full Cisco trademark policy
http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/about/ac50/ac47/downloads/logo/trademark.pdf

and what need to be read carefully

• Do not use a Cisco trademark or name in a manner that is likely to cause confusion about the origin of any product, service, material, course, technology, program or other offerings.
• Unless you have prior permission from Cisco, do not use a Cisco trademark or name in a manner that is likely to give the impression or otherwise imply an affiliation or association between you, your products or services, and Cisco, or any of its products, services, programs, materials, or other offerings.
• Do not use the Cisco corporate logo or any other Cisco logo in any materials without the written permission of Cisco.
• Do not use any Cisco trademark or name as or as part of a company, product, service, solution, technology, or program name.
• Do not use a Cisco trademark or name in a manner that is likely to dilute, defame, disparage, or harm the reputation of Cisco.
• Do not use any trademark, name, or designation that is confusingly similar to the Cisco name or any Cisco trademark.
• Do not copy or imitate any Cisco trade dress, type style, logo, product packaging, or the look, design, or overall commercial impression of any Cisco website, blog, or other materials.
• Do not register or use any domain name that incorporates any Cisco mark or name.
• Do not register or seek to register a Cisco trademark or name, or any mark or name that is confusingly similar to a Cisco mark or name

I believe your domain name and website actually broke most of Cisco's trademarks, now this is a pretty bs way of doing business by Cisco since your website actually promoted their system more than anything, but hey, everyone run it's businesss the way they like

 

What can you do but cease and desist.

 

i would see what type of product/categories the trademark and name is registered for.

you can use the name if its not one of those categories you wish to use the name for, but don't promote/sell/etc. any product which falls into their categories or use anything like their logo.

 

I am familiar with both Canadian and French law, and as far as I understand them you have complied. That ought to be the end of the matter. Please do come back and let us know how it all turned out.

 

Just because Cisco publishes a document doesn't mean it's LAW. I really see nothing worth with his domain name and should be fair use. But I'm not a lawyer.

 

Trademark is trademark, but it looks like that letter was written after an attorney wanted to prove their worth to Cisco and found you. If it is worth it to you see if you can negotiate license since you would be helping them by developing that site.

 

The law firm did exactly what they were hired to do. If I am not mistaken, you are required by law to defend
your trademark, or the trademark could become invalid, and they are doing just that; defending their trademark...

Why would a mega company like cisco do that?
They could ultimately get the domain, and develop as they wish...
(if that is what they really wanted to do....)

Cisco is a 100+ Billion dollar company, and hired a billion dollar international law
firm to defend them in such litigation cases, so who has to prove what?

 

You are right.

If they are willing to spend truck load of money on court, why wouldn't they just offer to buyout your domain?

Seems logical to me, and a win win situation for both sides. You get reimbursment for trouble of rebranding, and they get this task done FAST. Without court.

bureaucratic tways