from the just-so-you-know... dept
Back in December, we wrote about a company that was selling a product it claimed would provide you with a facelift in an hour. Not surprisingly, many people weren't impressed with the results of such a product (which was advertised widely on TV) and wrote about it on such sites as InfomercialScams.com. The company behind the product proceeded to
sue InfomercialScams claiming trademark infringement. There were just a few problems with this. First, having someone critique your product is not a trademark violation -- it's protected free speech. Second, even if it were a trademark violation, it would be a violation by the person writing the review, not the website service provider. It appears that the facelift-in-a-box company hasn't quite learned that lesson as it's now
also threatening yet another site that has negative reviews of the product. That site has responded by pointing out that the original lawsuit appears to be a misuse of trademark law, and then also countersues claiming that the company broke the site's terms of service. The countersuit seems like a stretch from a legal standpoint (and, even if the terms of service are violated, it's not clear that it's a matter that raises to the level of a lawsuit), but it's good to see yet another site fighting back against an abuse of trademark law.
Filed Under: critique, trademark
