MLM Company Accuses Blogging Critic Of Trademark Infringement Over Metatag Usage
from the good-luck-there dept
A bunch of folks have sent in the news that MonaVie, a company I must confess I've never heard of -- but which apparently is a typical multilevel marketing deal, this time involving something to do with acai berries -- is threatening a critical blogger for the sin of mentioning the company name in metatags. Well, actually, they threatened him over a lot more in their legal nastygram to the blogger's domain registrar. However, when the good folks at The Consumerist asked MonaVie for clarification, the company's lawyer claimed that the original letter was from "a new person working in our compliance department" who apparently went a bit too far. But, that the company still felt the use in metatags was a violation of trademarks. That seems hard to believe for a variety of reasons, as no moron in a hurry would confuse a blog critical of MonaVie with the company itself. This certainly sounds like an abuse of trademark law in an attempt to stifle speech.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: acai, metatags, mlm, trademark
Companies: monavie
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I bet you if you look at this companies website you will probably find competitors and who knows what in their meta tags.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Their meta tags
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You guys almost make a point until you blow it - like the Oakland Raiders!
Don't be an idiot. The speech can continue without the metatag. It's an attempt to stifle search engine ranking - which is a privilege, not a right.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Trademark Infringement
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yuck.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Monavie
Monavie are currently in 15 countries and its Founder Dallin Larsen has worked tirelessly to build an ethical company based on a product of integrity!
Dallin has recently been awarded 'Entrepeneur of the Year' by Ernst & Young and the Company is now ranked 18th in the Inc500.
Monavie have never promoted their product range as a 'cure all' only as a powerful antioxidant which helps the body help itself.
Their have been outstanding testimonials of positive benefits from those who are taking Monavie and that is not to be denied.
As a direct result of the benefits that my family and friends have experienced through taking the product I am now delighted to be one of Monavie's members.
To understand more about Company the product,the good they are accomplishing through the MORE Project view our webpage at: www.onesimpleproduct.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Double Ouch!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]