Dell seeks damages from man called Dell!

[wisconsin]

interesting!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/20/dell_sues_dell_man/

 

[jberryhill]

While current copyright and trademark laws need more work,

The principle that you do not have an unqualified right to use your name as a commercial mark is pretty old, and pretty reasonable.

I named my kids Coca-Cola and Xerox.

 

[Jim_]

So, what ever happened with Microsoft's suit against Mike Rowe?

 

[jberryhill]

They never sued him. They filed a UDRP.

 

[nick-8318]

I am not going to buy a dell if dell computers wins
regaurdless

 

[Peter]

and would you have bought a dell anyway? I dont think it would make a blind bit of difference if a guy on a forum decides not to buy 1.

If your name is McDonald, you do NOT have a right to operate a fast food restaurant using your name. If your name is Dow, you do NOT have right to run a chemical company using your name, etc.

That is all good and well but they plan on making him pay $500 for every mention of Dell on the site (if the article can be beleived). So say if he changed the site so it was not trying to ride on the name of Dell Computors he would still if they got their way not even be allowed to have his name or contact details on the site. Surely that is taking the trademark way too far and surely he has a right to mention his own name on his own site or should he change his name so that it does not infringe Dell's mark.

 

[shanee86]

All I can say is BS it is just another big company trying to get get away with whatever they want and push the little guy around and push him into giving up his site. I hope he wins I have had companys contact me also about things and when I told them basically I wasn't scared and they need to talk to my lawyer they never replied lol. But I hope he wins and I think the judge if he is not payed off lol will vote in the mans behalf.

 

[primacomputer]

That is all good and well but they plan on making him pay $500 for every mention of Dell on the site (if the article can be beleived).

So say if he changed the site so it was not trying to ride on the name of Dell Computors he would still if they got their way not even be allowed to have his name or contact details on the site. Surely that is taking the trademark way too far and surely he has a right to mention his own name on his own site or should he change his name so that it does not infringe Dell's mark.

This is not what the article says. You're reading too much into it.

I named my kids Coca-Cola and Xerox.

I hate those pretentious double barrelled names. Then again, maybe I'll name my next kid Wal-Mart

 

[jberryhill]

he has a right to mention his own name on his own site or should he change his name so that it does not infringe Dell's mark

I'm convinced that people post without reading the other comments.

When you start a business, there is an infinitude of things you can call your business. There are a lot of people named "Ford". Are you telling me that if Jim Ford decides he wants to make custom auto body parts that he can call his business the "Ford Auto Body Parts"? Or if he was in the loan business, can he call it "Ford Auto Financing"?

No, he can't. And it is not taking trademark law too far to say that just because your name happens to be Ford you can't run an auto-related business under that name.

I can't open a Mexican restaurant and serve Berryhill Tacos, because there is a franchise out of Texas that has a federal trademark registration for BERRYHILL in connection with tacos. I'll have to call my Mexican restaurant something else. It's that simple.

A consumer could easily believe that "Dell Websites" has something to do with Dell computer, which provides web servers and I believe also provides web hosting. It is not fair for someone to ride on that reputation, no matter whether their name is Dell or not.

 

[AllValley]

I am not going to buy a dell if dell computers wins
regaurdless

Ta heck with Dell! Buy from your local NPers!
Hint Hint

I personally hate dell.. but it would be a failure in the legal system if this guy got away with it.


And no, Dell does not provide hosting... And I hope they never do... nor Google..it would be the end of us all!

 

[jberryhill]

And no, Dell does not provide hosting.

Registrant:
Dell Inc. (DOM-370250)
One Dell Way MS 8033 Round Rock TX 78682 US
Domain Name: dellhost.com

 

[Dave_Z]

Registrant:
Dell Inc. (DOM-370250)
One Dell Way MS 8033 Round Rock TX 78682 US
Domain Name: dellhost.com

Wait, I remember reading that dellhost was sold to some company in 2003. I
wonder what were their agreements on the usage of TMs on the name, if any.

Of course, that's something I'll probably have to ask them. :D

 

[firestorm]

At first I was siding with Mr. Dell but now that is reversed after finishing the article.
1- Dell has a big reputation(whether it is good or bad is personal opinion, tying to stick with facts here) and it is so close to his domain name that he could be riding on their rep for sales.

2- Why doesn't he have a secret portfolio? Fishy to me...

3- TM's are TM's. That is written in stone(hypothetically speaking). If they held no value they would be worthless. Mr. Dell knows who DELL is and probably knew before hand. He might even have a DELL comp but thats a guess.

4- DELL withdrew they sueing probly just to leave out the hassle. Big corporate business have lots to do, why mess with something petty. They could have sent him a letter and just know gotten to it as previously mentioned.

5- You can't copyright Dictionary words. Dell isn't a word that is considered un TM or Copyrighted.

DELL is clearly in their realm when they think they have the right to sue him. I am sure he could have changed it to something else easily but what was holding him up?

-fire

 

[primacomputer]

5- You can't copyright Dictionary words. Dell isn't a word that is considered un TM or Copyrighted.

You can't copyright any word. You can only copyright a creative work and simply making up a word isn't enough. But you can trademark just about any word. There are thousands of trademarks which consist of a single word which you can find in any dictionary. Apple is one that comes to mind in the context of this thread. Strawberry, Peach, and Pear are also names of fruit which can be found in the dictionary and have been trademarked.

 

[Peter]

I'm convinced that people post without reading the other comments.

Firstly yes I did read the whole thread as well as the article

When you start a business, there is an infinitude of things you can call your business. There are a lot of people named "Ford". Are you telling me that if Jim Ford decides he wants to make custom auto body parts that he can call his business the "Ford Auto Body Parts"? Or if he was in the loan business, can he call it "Ford Auto Financing"?

No, he can't. And it is not taking trademark law too far to say that just because your name happens to be Ford you can't run an auto-related business under that name.

I can't open a Mexican restaurant and serve Berryhill Tacos, because there is a franchise out of Texas that has a federal trademark registration for BERRYHILL in connection with tacos. I'll have to call my Mexican restaurant something else. It's that simple.

A consumer could easily believe that "Dell Websites" has something to do with Dell computer, which provides web servers and I believe also provides web hosting. It is not fair for someone to ride on that reputation, no matter whether their name is Dell or not.

I understand that my point was if he changed his site so that it did NOT infringe the Dell trademark accroding to the article :-

Dell America seeks €100, 000 in damages, €50,000 for Dell France, plus another €500 for every mention of the word Dell on his website.

So if he has his contact details as Paul Dell etc then they would still want $500 for every time he wants to use his own name as contact details. That is taking the meaning of a trademark too far. My name is Peter McDonald, McDonalds cannot try and get me fined for every time I mention my own name on a website (if they could then I would be due them literrally millions of dollars.

Of course if McDonald's come knocking on my door I would be more than happy to fight the battle as i am damn sure they have absolutely no right to do such a thing.

 

[liam_d]

Dell (the company) can shuv it up their tradmarking ass's. I hope the guy wins over the big company!

 

[Robert Allen]

I am not going to buy a dell if dell computers wins
regaurdless

i second that.

 

[primacomputer]

Firstly yes I did read the whole thread as well as the article

I understand that my point was if he changed his site so that it did NOT infringe the Dell trademark accroding to the article :-

So if he has his contact details as Paul Dell etc then they would still want $500 for every time he wants to use his own name as contact details. That is taking the meaning of a trademark too far. My name is Peter McDonald, McDonalds cannot try and get me fined for every time I mention my own name on a website (if they could then I would be due them literrally millions of dollars.

Of course if McDonald's come knocking on my door I would be more than happy to fight the battle as i am damn sure they have absolutely no right to do such a thing.

To begin with, you have to bear in mind that the only source of information on this is an incoherent press release by the defendant which is being quoted and requoted. He claims he has been ordered to pay this, that, and the other thing, but if you read the original document you see that statement was made before any court case. At that point he would not possible have been ordered to pay anything because there had not yet been a court sessions to allow a judge to issue an order.

It is not uncommon to ask for damages for each instance of an infringement Dell may ask for this, but the judge makes the decision, and a decision had not been made when that quote was released. No judge is going to rule that he will have to pay Dell money any time he wants to use his name on the contact details of a page for future websites.

You are making wild assumptions based on inaccurate information about an event that hasn't happened yet.

 

[liam_d]

To begin with, you have to bear in mind that the only source of information on this is an incoherent press release by the defendant which is being quoted and requoted. He claims he has been ordered to pay this, that, and the other thing, but if you read the original document you see that statement was made before any court case. At that point he would not possible have been ordered to pay anything because there had not yet been a court sessions to allow a judge to issue an order.

It is not uncommon to ask for damages for each instance of an infringement Dell may ask for this, but the judge makes the decision, and a decision had not been made when that quote was released. No judge is going to rule that he will have to pay Dell money any time he wants to use his name on the contact details of a page for future websites.

You are making wild assumptions based on inaccurate information about an event that hasn't happened yet.

But then Dell is a company and companys can be persuasive towards judges about their company names.

 

[jberryhill]

Judges aren't dumb, in general.

Now, this thing is going on in France, so I don't know what their pleading requirements are. In the US, when a statute such as the ACPA provides "up to $100,000" in damages, subject to the judge's discretion, then you ASK for $100,000. The judge can award whatever he wants.

There's something else that people don't seem to get about lawsuits. Relative to the number of suits filed, trials are very rare. Most suits settle, and there is a lot of communication between the parties before the proceeding gets anywhere near a trial. Now, Dell has been in communication with this guy for quite a long time now... when he was first threatened by Dell, there was a boatload of discussion at that time due to his efforts to attract publicity/sympathy/donations. This situation is similar to Uzi Nissan's self-proclaimed martyrdom over his computer company... reselling a couple of barebones systems, although he started out selling car parts. When a dispute drags on that long, it is a symptom of someone being unreasonable about how to settle it.

 

[cache]

you are correct that it is about the reporter. But what does that reporter's great-g-father have anything to do to this case? (why is it even mentioned in the article?)

You mean this:


That's about the reporter (article's author), not Mr. Dell.

 

[armstrong]

you are correct that it is about the reporter. But what does that reporter's great-g-father have anything to do to this case? (why is it even mentioned in the article?)

That the writer had someone in his family adversely affected by something similar could affect his opinion. This fact is mentioned to place the article in perspective. Its simply honest journalism.