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So I just received a very serious-sounding message from another ebay user, telling me that I am violating their trademark, and threatening legal action if I don’t stop using their name for my business. They said that they are writing to me after talking to ebay about this. They are telling me that I can no longer use the following:
ebay store name: Melissa Moon Collection
ebay userid: melissa.melissa.moon
and any email addresses I have with “melissa.moon” as part of the id.
The reason is that they have had their name, Melissa Moon, and their business name Moon Collection trademarked for a long time.
(I’m not using the real name in question here, but this is a comparable example).What!?!? and EEK! This totally freaked me out, especially her verbiage (“you took my name” – uh, no.) and I’m just starting to calm down after doing some research. Here’s what I found out:
1) You can do a trademark search at http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/tess/index.html
There, I couldn’t find a trademark on “Melissa Moon” exactly, but found a trademark owned by Melissa Moon for a phrase in the format “Some sort of new agey inspirational phrase. Melissa Moon”. Well that doesn’t look like a trademark of her name to me.2) This user does not have an ebay store (so no business name on ebay) and has only 4 items for sale. So I double-checked the trademark entry, and it says that the goods and services associated with the trademark are “Instruction, namely classes and seminars in the fields of yoga, hypnotherapy, and meditation.” And this article I read (http://guides.wsj.com/small-business/starting-a-business/how-to-trademark-a-company-name/) told me that unless it’s a really famous trademark name, like “ebay” (think “ebay scavengers”), as long as you are in different industries, you’re not violating the trademark. So Delta Airlines and Delta Faucets are not violating trademarks.
This last “Delta” example is what really made me feel better about all of this and decide not to worry about it too much. Whew. Of course, it’s not like it would be a huge deal to change my biz name (I mean, it’s not losing listing photos!), but the name, although it’s not really my own name, has some personal meaning to me, and I would love to keep it.
Anyway, just thought I would share my experience. I wrote back to her explaining the Delta example above, and if anything comes of this, I’ll update the post.
Anybody else ever get something like this?
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There are plenty of examples where the same name is used in different industries. The only issue is when the same name could create confusion.
My dad used to work in a chain of shoe stores. They decided to create their own shoe brand called Feet First. Another shoe store called Feet First moved into a mall where one of my dad’s stores was located, so he made a complaint. The store had to change its name because my dad was there first (and I assume that his paperwork was in order). (Note: My dad’s company is no longer in business).
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Thanks for sharing that, Sharyn. Can always count on you for a helpful reply.
Totally makes sense. So now I’m no longer worried that I may have done something wrong. I’ve moved on to worrying that this person will use the VERO program to have all my listings taken down and deleted. I called ebay and although the rep said that it took a lot of work to become one of the ebay Verified Rights Owners who can requests listings be taken down (with no questions asked, as we all know), the ebay website says that all you have to do is send an email to vero@ebay.com to do a first request, and then they’ll set you up with a system to report more violations. So I sent an email to that address asking for their advice. I think the chances of a reply are low, but you never know.
Makes me think more about signing up for InkFrog for listing backup purposes. I actually have all my photos on my computer and an external drive, but not all those measurements and descriptions!
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I would wait for a Cease and Desist if they are serious, personally. If they have 4 items, filing a VERO will be probably out of their scope and too vague. Some people just like to get wound up. As far as continual communication with this person, I would end it now. You’ve provided enough educational trademark info, if they want to sue you, they can do that but they wont. Anything beyond this point is for an attorney.
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when i started in 2008, someone else had the store name i wanted. and i was an account that hadn’t been used in years. nothing i could do about it, so i used a different name. sounds like this lady is just mad that you used the store name she wanted. but i don’t think she can sue you or have ebay do anything about it. though i’m not a lawyer. sounds just like an empty threat.
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We’ve never been sued or had legal issues, but I’ve had plenty of conversations with lawyers. As bcfol440 said, a lawyer would say to wait for an official notice from eBay or court. Currently this is just a kooky person emailing you.
And as eBaymom said, we wouldnt respond in any way. That just feeds into their drama. Nothing you can say will change his/her mind.
Its never fun to be targeted by someone who’s unhappy. We listed an old painting that had the artist’s name of it. Some woman (not the artist) kept messaging us saying we had stolen it and needed to return it to the artist at x address. We didnt respond and just relisted without the artist’s name in the title.
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The company I work for is constantly involved in trademark infringement cases (we make some private label products that look like big brands with similar colors, size of packaging, etc) that most stores like Walmart have 1000’s of.
We rarely lose – as long as you are not doing the exact same thing with the same name and appearance, you have nothing to worry about. The only thing I would be concerned with is if the person is super serious, they may file a lawsuit – if they do, just change your name if you don’t want to fight it.
Trademark only applies to the name, or similar names and appearances to what someone else is doing. For example, if I make a red/white can with the same design as Coca-Cola, and call it “Cola-Coka”, then it is an issue. If I’m making barbecues called Char-Cola, they can’t do anything about it.
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Thank you SO MUCH, everyone, for the sensible responses. Note that it’s not that she wanted to use my store name on ebay, but rather that she was just trying to get me to stop using mine as a way of protecting her registered trademark. In the end I became certain that I was NOT committing any sort of violation of her trademark, but I was really scared that she could get my listings deleted via ebay’s VERO program. The thought of losing all those listings freaked me out, so for my own peace of mind I just now changed the name and I feel MUCH better. It’s actually kind of funny (in an annoying way) that ebay’s VERO program, with its “no questions asked” policy of complete listing deletion, is what scared me. I was not at all scared of any legal/lawsuit action b/c a) I’m in the right, and b) as Inglewood said, I could always make the change if/when a cease and desist letter arrived.
You folks are probably right that nothing bad would have happened if I had just ignored her, but as someone who is very worry-prone in general, this turned out to be the best decision for me.
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