Comments on: Anecdotal evidence

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 04:59:54 +0000

I just wanted to say thank you for keeping us apprised of all the goings-on in this matter. I find the whole thing confusing, but your posts seem explain things more clearly.
…Also, a potentially interesting development showed up on the USTPO when I was checking it this evening: did someone say settlement?

By: Kristin

Kristin — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 22:53:32 +0000

Sorry, I misunderstood the “answer” file. The way it was worded made it sound like the answer to the proceedings, and not just the answer to Deb’s petition to cancel. Sorry.

By: j.

j. — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 21:18:28 +0000

Yup, as Yvonne says, it still says pending here. But if you're looking at the status of one of Deb Stoller's applications, you'll see that there's a final refusal, which is the reason for the cancellation proceedings against SFSE's mark.

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 19:10:58 +0000

Kristin, where are you seeing this? When I went to look, the status still says pending; they’re supposed to be in discovery until July.

By: Norah

Norah — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 17:16:43 +0000

If it’s in Anne Macdonald’s book, which was published in the early 90s, wouldn’t that prove it was in use before SFSE registered it, even if the club mentioned in the book can’t be verified? (I’m really, really unknowledgeable about laws, so I hope this isn’t too stupid a question…)

By: Kristin

Kristin — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 17:03:29 +0000

I checked out the link to the cancellation proceedings in the previous entry and it looks like they’ve completely thrown out the cancellation request. I don’t know how much of a difference it makes to SFSE’s issue with Yahoo and CafePress, but it still sucks.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 15:30:10 +0000

For anyone whose YahooGroups list has been deleted, set up a new one (avoiding the words “stitch ‘n/and/etc. bitch” in the name and description and any images you post — “SnB-yourcity” is a good alternative) and send your new URL to me at the address above. I’ll post it quickly so your mailing list can get up and running again and your group members can find you.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 13:08:31 +0000

Well, the Yahoo group deletions have begun. The Twin Cities group that I was a member of is no more [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TCSnB/] and I read that the Harlem group is also gone. [http://kimberlinewyork.blogspot.com/2006/01/sew-fastsew-nasty-cant-we-all-just-get.html]

By: miranda

miranda — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 04:02:42 +0000

Libraries will have copies. I don’t know about you, but my library, recently ranked #1 in the US, has an online reserve system that makes it about as valuable to me as Amazon. The difference is that I have to go pick up the books, rather than having them delivered. And I believe they would deliver them if I were a shut-in.

The problem with this whole “sending a trademark or copyright nastygram to Yahoo/CafePress/Ebay” thing is that, to my knowledge, the people who make the claims rarely have to back them up with much. Most large sites are litigation-shy, so writing to them with a claim, however spurious (as SFSE’s seems to be) is often enough to get them to yank the groups or items in question for TOS violation. I’m not sure how this works with regard to specific sites – one site’s policies may vary slightly from another’s – but generally, it seems to be what happens. You can have a great case as to why your site or item or whatever can be kept, but the site owners probably won’t give it very much weight against the nastygram, whether the nastygram has much truth in it or not.

By: Zabet

Zabet — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 03:44:09 +0000

That could probably get someone into slander and/or libel if they couldn’t restrain themselves to commenting on the book… plus the need to you know, HAVE a copy of the book to review it…