RE: Logo Infringement

["Fry, Larry" <LEF@chem-tronics.com>]

Legally, they can sue you.  Realistically, they know it will cost them more
to pursue you than they can ever get (assuming you are not filthy rich) even
if they were awarded the "damages".
The communication you received was a scare tactic, one they hope will
frighten you into dropping your use of the VW logo without further action
from them.  That way they don't even have to decide if they want to start
spending money by initiating further legal action.

Bottom line: You can ignore it, which means they'll A)keep sending these
things to you, probably escalating into registered letters (they're cheap)
that will say the same thing only in much stronger lanuage.  Or B) actually
file suit.  Will they?  Who knows, I'd guess probably not (see first
paragraph).  Do you want to take that chance?  That's for you to answer.
You could let it go and if it gets to where you've had enough, you could
then pull the logo and that would most likely be the end of it.

How much do you dislike "big business"?  How much do you want to avoid
alienating VW?  The fact that you are in Germany and this is from VW of
America would give me a little feeling of "safety", but how willing would
the parent company be to go after you?  Dunno'.

How about asking them for legal permission to use the logo??  At the least
it would demonstrate your reasonableness.

Keep us posted on this...

Larry  sandiego16V



-----Original Message-----
From: SCIROCCO2@t-online.de [mailto:SCIROCCO2@t-online.de]
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 9:39 AM
To: Scirocco List
Cc: Takacs Attila; Macsek; Sam
Subject: Fw: Logo Infringement


Hello listers,

just got this stupid e-mail below.
did anyone else get such an e-mail recently ?

is this important for me ? ( as it isn't written in german so how should I
read it ?? )


ARE THEY CRAZY OR WTF ????

what is next ?  www.scirocco.org maybe ???

slightly irritated
Dirk


----- Original Message -----
From: "ceaseanddesist@legal-warning" <ceaseanddesist@legal-warning.com>
To: <SCIROCCO@t-online.de>
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 5:33 PM
Subject: Logo Infringement


RE:  First Letter/Logo Infringement
Mark:  VW®
File:  258
Dear Mr. Dirk Schneider:

We represent Volkswagen of America, Inc. ("VWoA"), a wholly-owned
subsidiary and exclusive U.S. importer of cars manufactured by Volkswagen
AG ("Volkswagen") and Audi AG ("Audi"). VWoA is charged with protecting
trademarks associated with those cars and has asked us to contact you on
its behalf.

VWoA learned that you are using Volkswagen's registered mark VW® on your
website SCIROCCO2.DE. However, the above referenced mark is a registered
trademark belonging to Volkswagen, and may not be used without the
express permission of the owner. Your use of this mark, and the use of
the SCIROCCO advertisement on your website, violates the Lanham Act, 15
U.S.C. §§ 1114, 1125, and infringes upon Volkswagen's state and common
law trademark rights.

On behalf of VWoA, we request that upon receipt of this letter you cease
and desist from using their registered mark on your website, and on all
advertising or promotional materials. Your continuing use of this mark is
misleading to the public and constitutes a misappropriation of customer
goodwill developed and paid for by Volkswagen. For your information, VW
was recently awarded damages in the excess of $250,000 against an
independent garage that refused to cease using VW's logos. Volkswagen is
very diligent in enforcing trademark rights, and will not tolerate
infringements such as yours.




Sincerely,
Stephen J. Arpaia, Esq.

-------------------------------
IP Protector, LLC
http://ipprotector.com
2604 Elmwood Avenue, #178
Rochester, NY 14618 - 2295
-------------------------------






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