Chuck0 is a colorful member of the DC anarchist community: http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=chuck0 ******** Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 22:40:01 -0500 From: Chuck Munson <chuckat_private> Subject: Infoshop.org contacted over trademark infringement Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-UIDL: 7b15990119d54be40c6f47c057e93fab >From the "Legal Departments with Too Much Time on Their Hands" Department November 5, 2001 Black Blocs for Dummies Infoshop.org Served Cease and Desist E-mail Over Trademark Infringment I've just received an interesting e-mail from the legal department of Hungry Minds, Inc., publishers of the "For Dummies" series of how to books. They seem to have taken umbrage over a page that exists on Infoshop.org titled "Black Blocs for Dummies." The page in question provides information on the "black bloc" tactic that has been used by anarchists and anti-authoritarians at numerous protests in recent years. This is the second cease and desist communication that Infoshop.org has gotten in its nearly 7 years of existence. As a website committed to the destruction of the idea of "intellectual property," Infoshop.org will be exploring its options in coming weeks. See the page in question: http://www.infoshop.org/blackbloc.html Chuck0 Infoshop.org -------------------------- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2001 15:13:57 -0500 From: Heather DeOrto <HDeOrtoat_private> To: "'chuck0at_private'" <chuck0at_private> Cc: Heather DeOrto <HDeOrtoat_private>, Trademark Infringements <TInfringementsat_private> Subject: Trademark Infringement BLACK BLOCS FOR DUMMIES VIA E-MAIL CONFIRMATION VIA CERTIFIED MAIL November 5, 2001 Mr. Chuck Munson Mid-Atlantic Infoshop PO Box 179 College Park , MD 20741-0179 Re: Trademark Infringement BLACK BLOCS FOR DUMMIES http://www.infoshop.org/blackbloc.html Dear Mr. Munson: I am the Trademark Administrator of Hungry Minds, Inc. As you may know, Hungry Minds, Inc., formerly IDG Books Worldwide Inc., has over 100 trademark registrations and applications in the United States, Canada and other jurisdictions for the trademark "FOR DUMMIES," many "DUMMIES" formatives and the FOR DUMMIES trade dress. These rights cover a wide variety of goods and services, topics and subject matters. As such, Hungry Minds, and its authorized representatives, have the exclusive right under law to use these marks to distinguish its goods and services from third parties. Protection of that right requires that Hungry Minds take all reasonable steps to prevent others from using its marks (or confusingly similar marks) without authorization. United States trademark law prohibits anyone other than Hungry Minds from using its marks, or any marks that are confusingly similar, in connection with goods or services when such use is likely to cause confusion as to the source, sponsorship or affiliation of the goods or services. In addition, the law prohibits the use of a famous mark in such a way as to "dilute" its distinctiveness as an exclusive designator of the owner's goods and services. When such dilution occurs, the mark can become a "generic" term used in connections with goods or services from many different sources, and the owner may therefore lose its exclusive right to use it. Hungry Minds recently became aware of your website "Black Blocs for Dummies" at http://www.infoshop.org/blackbloc.html which utilizes the "For Dummies" phrase which is confusingly similar to the well-known "...For DummiesŪ" trademarks owned by Hungry Minds, Inc. The title of your article at the above-referenced site could easily be confused and associated with Hungry Mind's "...For DummiesŪ" trademark and erodes the distinctiveness and the goodwill associated with it. Accordingly, the continued use of "Black Blocs For Dummies" on the website constitutes infringement and dilution of Hungry Mind's trademark rights under the federal Lanham Act and other federal and state laws that prohibit infringement, dilution, and unfair competition. Based on that, at this juncture, I ask only that you remove the trademarked material from the title of your article on or before November 19, 2001 and reply indicating your agreement to refrain from using all such trademarked material in the future. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Sincerely, Heather DeOrto Trademark Administrator Hungry Minds, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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