Re: Whoops.

Phillip Wherry (psw@wherry.com)
Mon, 12 Feb 1996 09:33:17 -0500 (EST)


An amusing followup to all of this. Cinemania includes a feature called
"ListMaker" -- which, when Cinemania came out, was a trademarked name;
better yet, I owned the trademark. Sadly, though, it hadn't been in
active use for a few years, and that's a requirement for an infringement
action. Sigh.

Phil

On Mon, 12 Feb 1996, John Klassa wrote:

>
> [what he said vs. what he meant... all in fun...]
>
> > Dear Mr. Rifkin
>
> Dear trademark-infringing bastard
>
> > I'm a trademark attorney here at Microsoft. I hate to "make a federal
>
> I'm a weasel, and I've been paid lots of money by other weasels like
> my Uncle Bill to go around harrassing people for no good reason. It's
> nothing personal, you understand.
>
> > case out of it" but we've noticed that you have a section of a web
> > page on a Caltech server called "Adam Rifkin's Cinemania". I'm sure you
>
> I love^H^H^H^Hhate to be a jerk, but it comes naturally. We've caught
> you red-handed using a word that anybody might dream up. However, we
> got to it first and we've got lots of money, so back off.
>
> > mean no harm but CINEMANIA is a trademark of Microsoft, both for
> > software and on line services currently available on MSN.
>
> We own words now. Forget your own creative instincts. We own them too.
>
> > Unfortunately, as a trademark owner, Microsoft must take reasonable
> > steps to police misuse of its mark so I'm asking you to choose a new
> > name for the movie section of your web page. We don't want to cause
>
> We have to be jerks. It's how we got rich.
>
> > any unnecessary inconvenience so please let me know how long it will
> > take you to make the change. Your cooperation is appreciated and we
> > apologize for any inconvenience.
>
> We're sorry that we're jerks. We just are. We're threatened by
> grad students who make no money. It makes us feel bad for charging
> so much for what we do.
>
> Have a nice day.
>
>
>

--
Phil Wherry - psw@wherry.com
Phone:   +1 703 242-2618; fax +1 703 242-1167