Which Does More Damage To Your Reputation: A Non-Competitor Using A Similar Name, Or Filing A Lawsuit That Pisses Off Many Potential Clients?

from the simple-calculations dept

Judith Lindenau points us to the news that a guy named Daniel Rothamel, who is apparently a well-known, well-respected blogger in the real estate world, is facing a questionable trademark infringement lawsuit because he blogs under the name the Real Estate Zebra. The company suing him, the Lones Group, claims to publish a blog and newsletter under the names The Zebra Blog and The Zebra Report. So, they're claiming infringement, because there can apparently be only one zebra in the real estate world. It's worth pointing out here that the Lones Group apparently is not actually in the real estate business itself, but provides marketing services to real estate agents.

Except, as the blog above notes, it seems that plenty of real estate agents know and like Rothamel, and they don't look too kindly on the Lones Group for suing him over what feels like a pretty frivolous complaint. The blog post above goes through a sampling of Twitter statements concerning the Lones Group and basically finds a bunch of real estate agents (remember: these are the people Lones is targeting as customers) bashing them for suing Rothamel. In typical legal fashion, the lawsuit asserts that Rothamel, in using his blog's name, has caused the Lones Group massive damage, but the blog post linked above points out that filing the lawsuit seems likely to have caused a lot more damage in pissing off a whole bunch of its potential customers.

Filed Under: blogging, daniel rothamel, real estate, trademark, zebra
Companies: lones group