Can A Moron In A Hurry Tell The Difference Between Amazon.com And A Social Activist Website?

from the one-would-hope dept

Wed, Apr 22nd 2009 5:17pm — Mike Masnick

Thanks to Chris Maresca for sending in the story that Amazon.com is trying to block the trademark registration of a "social collaboration" website called Amazee. As the Register notes:

Amazon.com is an immensely popular online storefront that sells everything from books and groceries to virtual timeshares of its extensive data center infrastructure.

Amazee is a Switzerland-based, social "collaboration website" made for social activists and protestors to organize, promote, and fund their public uprisings and Earth-saving efforts.

Those seem quite a bit different, don't they? It seems unlikely one would confuse Amazee (who says it's name is derived from "amazing," rather than a South American river...) with the world's largest online retailer. Who knows if there's more behind this, but it seems like yet another case of overly aggressive attempts to defend a trademark that only serve to waste time, effort and money from organizations.

Filed Under: trademark
Companies: amazee, amazon

12 Comments

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Daniel, 22 Apr 2009 @ 6:22pm

for shame.
For some reason, I never really viewed Amazon as the type to try pulling shenanigans like this. I mean, I could see "Amazong" or "Amason", but "Amazee"? Who would honestly confuse that with Amazon? And even for someone who made the mistake of typing the wrong one, I think they would figure out their faux pas pretty quick.

It's just a shame people waste money on this kind of ridiculousness.
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InanimateOne, 22 Apr 2009 @ 6:27pm

I was totally confused!!
I went to Amazee today and spent 2 1/2 hours trying to find Britney Spears' new album. I'm an idiot. Thanks for setting me straight. Got it, Amazon.com!
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Litigious Goof, 22 Apr 2009 @ 7:56pm

Sue the Bastards!
Hopefully they'll go all in and sue Brazil and Rand-McNally next.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Apr 2009 @ 7:58pm

Re: I was totally confused!!
If you were looking for Britney Spears new album, I can see how you would confuse Amazee with Amazon.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Apr 2009 @ 8:55pm

I thought amazon was a social activist website.
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Azrael, 22 Apr 2009 @ 11:54pm

Judging by the mental level of their customers , the reason at the base of their compliant is totally justified.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Apr 2009 @ 11:57pm

Nozama
Attention all Social Activists:
nozama.com... still available
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demonsun, 23 Apr 2009 @ 6:34am

You all are forgetting one thing, as a trademark holder, they are REQUIRED to defend their copyright. This is the only way they can do it. And as such its up to the courts and USPTO to decide.

And that argument about where the name came from, doesn't matter in trademark law, merely this question. "Are the two names similar enough to cause confusion among the average consumers?" i.e. the idiot on the street test.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Apr 2009 @ 6:47am

Someone help my memory here. I seem to remember long time ago when Amazon was just starting there was a long pre-existing small brick & mortar bookstore called "Amazon" somewhere in the U.S. If I remember right it was a feminist or lesbian bookstore (isn't it odd to name a feminst bookstore for a word that literally translates to "without breasts"? Anyway...)
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Mike (profile), 23 Apr 2009 @ 9:28am

Re:
You all are forgetting one thing, as a trademark holder, they are REQUIRED to defend their copyright. This is the only way they can do it. And as such its up to the courts and USPTO to decide.

Uh, first of all, you seem to confuse copyright and trademark. Second, you are not quite right. You are required to defend your trademark (not copyright), but that means going after those that actually infringe. In cases like this, where it's clearly different, you do not need to do this.
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Caitlin, 23 Apr 2009 @ 3:11pm

*laugh* After the whole Easter fiasco with the de-listing of gay, lesbian, and feminist literature, I thought Amazon was a social activist site, too~
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Moron in a hurry, 26 Feb 2012 @ 12:08pm

Fuck.
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