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tOSU trademark issues with BP

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I say we contact this guy:

http://scottschiff.lawoffice.com

He's worked enough for clarett for free, I'm sure he'd love to stick it to OSU again.

In all seriousness, I don't understand how OSU can try to take Buckeyeplanet.com, who sells no product and makes no money, when they let BSB and their web site (Buckeyesports.com) off the hook.

If they want to play hardball, get in touch with the media. I'm sure the Dispatch would run a story on it. "OSU gangs up on fan Web site"

Don't forget though, this is the same athletic dept. that tried to shut down the free student radio broadcast of football and basketball games (until the criticism from the public was too high).

http://www.thelantern.com/news/2003/10/09/Campus/Wbns-Stops.Student.Radio-524047.shtml
 
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From the comments I'm getting from Alan, the media will be quite noisy if tOSU doesn't start becoming a little more agreeable about all of this.

An undisclosed, well-known tOSU affiliate's response (admittedly not an expert) was this:
In hindsight, your error was asking for permission. Your tee shirt has no resemblance to anything at or about Ohio State. The only problem I can see with your web site is the little Buckeye leaf in your logo. Remove that and I, personally, see no problem. That certainly does not mean that THEY will not see a problem with it.

I know of one person that own a LOT of "OSU sounding" URLs and he successfully told them to stuff it. Check out:

http://gobucks.com
http://gobucks.net
http://gobucks.org
http://go-bucks.net
http://go-bucks.org

I think he was able to fend them off because he had nothing to lose. You guys at Buckeye Planet don't have to worry about losing your credentials.

I don't think OSU can own a copyright on the word Buckeye, but I'm not a lawyer. I often wonder how BSB can get away with http://buckeyesports.com.
Click to expand...
 
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Here ya go, BFS - Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research

Guys, I doubt tOSU wants to stomp on some of the school's staunchest supporters. I can see where they might think there's a problem if there is an assumption that there is profit involved... but there isn't. Nor is there an attempt to make anyone think BP is affiliated with tOSU, and that point can always be made more clear if necessary.

Dealing with bureaucracy is a pain in the neck, but let's not sound like it's off-to-battle time. It'll work out.

Look forward to hearing your update, Alan.
 
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As long as you are not profiting off of Ohio State they have no right to sue you. Even if you do say Buckeye on your site. The only problem is the little leaf which was taken from Ohio State. If you make your shirt say

BuckeyePlanet.com and have say...the football and letters w/o the leaf you should be fine. If you aren't, I suggest you hire a free lawyer and take them to court. They won't go...it would be stupid for them to.
 
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Alright, here is how we're gonna proceed with this. I am going to wait to hear back from alan tomorrow to see what he has found out (understandably he will probably hear very little).

Either tomorrow night or the following day I will contact the licensing dept back and let them know the status of things (and that we're not running any business, so there's no urgency to this discussion).

We will continue to wait for what Alan finds out, however the entire process needs to continue to be run thru BP's community, namely the mods such as grad. Alan will do some talking for us, however our main response to this email will still be formulated after we have all of the facts and we have decided as a group and cleared the email with the mods and a few lawyer types.
 
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Wow, what the hell. Sounds like Alan is on top of this, good. As said above, they were threatening to shut down Buckeyeplanet.com if we were selling anything. If You need me to do anything let me know. BFS, has any lawyer type people PMed you about this as to help formulating a proper respose? If you need me to do anything, please let me know.
 
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Send him an Email and ask him to clarify what exactly his problem with us is.

Say you don't believe he can demonstrate lost profits and that your profits go to charities anyways.

Thats my advice. Say you want to work w/ OSU and not against them. Also, if he gets snippy be sure to remind him how negative a light will shine on OSU if they in fact decide to charge you w/ making money for charity.
 
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[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1](II) A domain name registrar, domain name registry, or other domain name registration authority described in subclause (I) may be subject to injunctive relief only if such registrar, registry, or other registration authority has --

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[/size][/font][font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1](II) in the implementation of a reasonable policy by such registrar, registry, or authority prohibiting the registration of a domain name that is identical to, confusingly similar to, or dilutive of another's mark.

Now see...Buckeyeplanet.com is not OSU. All you should need is We are not assosciated w/ OSU.

A little more

[/size][/font][font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1](a) IN GENERAL -- Section 43 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1125) is amended by inserting at the end the following:

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[/size][/font][font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1](i) has a bad faith intent to profit from that mark, including a personal name which is protected as a mark under this section; and...

[/size][/font][font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1] [/size][/font]
[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1](III) is a-trademark, word, or name protected by reason of section 706 of title 18, United States Code, or section 220506 of title 36, United States Code.
[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1] [/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1](B)(i) In determining whether a person has a bad faith intent described under subparagraph (A), a court may consider factors such as, but not limited to --
[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1] [/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1](I) the trademark or other intellectual property rights of the person, if any, in the domain name;
[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1] [/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1](II) the extent to which the domain name consists of the legal name of the person or a name that is otherwise commonly used to identify that person;
[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]...[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1] [/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica][size=-1](IV) the person's bona fide noncommercial or fair use of the mark in a site accessible under the domain name; [/size][/font]
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I don't think they have a case.

Plus...

You are not intending to sell this domain name so the Anti-Squatting laws make no sense at all in the circumstance. Maybe they felt you were trying to sell them the site...?
 
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to be straightforward with everyone....

the Rumor Mill was a major concern to many associated with Ohio State Athletics...

If you look back to November...everyone...from the top down was referring to the rumor mill....geiger, the dispatch, bsb, bnuts and on and on....

not because the information was off-base....but, that they didnt like what was given to the public...
 
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Mods who are reading this thread... please go back and remove some of the more hateful posts regarding this topic... no offense guys but we need to have everything working towards teamwork on this project with tOSU. We can make comments like "why in teh heck" or "I'm disappointed" but overly hateful posts towards tOSU need to be removed considering the sensitivity of this topic. This is not a standard practice of BP to censor users like this, but I think people can accept censorship in this instance.
 
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Breath in .....

Breath out......

Let's let the folks like Alan find out what is really happening and why and go from there.

Let's not make a lot of reactionary posts that create another problem we will be dealing with later.
 
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"Buckeye" is a generic noun. In no way can OSU copy right lawyers stop any entity from using the work Buckeye, unless, it is coupled with those copy righted images or words that characterize Ohio State University or OSU sports.

The challenge letter is a lawyer's first line of defense: blast 'em with our strongest shot. Scare 'em off. Ask questions later.

Not using trade marked OSU images, songs, sayings, et al, just makes sense.

A bold disclaimer is always smart.

Not for profit merely supports BPs unchallenged existance.

Too bad one can't arrange an informal face-to-face meeting with the legal beagles involved and find out the exact nature of their grief...if there is one.
 
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