# Violation Trademark



## smellitlikeitissoaps (May 3, 2009)

I approached a lady today on Etsy. She is using my business name on her site. I continuously asked her to remove it. She states "its not my business name" I state "But its mine" I finally reported her to the proper people with copy of my trademark information. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=30167

How would you feel if someone was doing this to you? 
Would you allow them to continue to use it? 


She now is telling people in the chatrooms to not buy from me, and other chatters are saying that I handled it in the wrong way. 

I have had my business name taken from me before. Im not going through that again. 

What would you have done?


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## AshleyR (May 3, 2009)

She is not using it as her business name but she is kind of making it appear that it is her business name by having it be the only wording in her banner.

I think that would irk me too.


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## Tabitha (May 3, 2009)

What IS she using as her biz  name? Is she saying "smell it like it is" is her tag line? Her user name is cleary diff so I am just wondering what her shop nam IS.


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## pepperi27 (May 3, 2009)

I remember we were discussing this years ago why hasn't etsy asked this person to remove it? Although it does look like it's their tag line rather than their business name but how pathetic to not be able to come up with your own?


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## Guest (May 3, 2009)

Hmm... I really wouldn't have thought too much of it.  She's just using it as a tagline.

If she were using a logo, design or biz name that was blatantly ripped off of yours, it would be more understandable, but it's not really surprising that someone else could come up with that same play on words and use it as a tagline.

Just my 2 cents.


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## smellitlikeitissoaps (May 3, 2009)

My business name is not a logo. My business name is just the name. It is registered as just the name. 

I dont have a logo for say, the flower is there for Etsy. My name is typed "Smell It Like It Is' 

Per my trademark it is not to be used in anyway, tagline etc.


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## angbaby4974 (May 3, 2009)

I would be pi$$ed!  I'm a graphic designer, & i wouldn't want anyone using my images without my permission, much less my name as their tagline.

A little about infringement:


> Infringement may occur when one party, the "infringer", uses a trademark which is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by another party, in relation to products or services which are identical or similar to the products or services which the registration covers.



JMHO


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## Tabitha (May 3, 2009)

> why hasn't etsy asked this person to remove it


  It's not their place to decide who is & is not right. Etsy will enforce legal issues after there is a judgement but they can not act as judge & jury.


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## Tabitha (May 3, 2009)

As a after thought... I think ETSY would get involved if a letter was sent by smelli's lawyer or maybe even if smelli submitted th legal info to ETSY.


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## Guest (May 3, 2009)

smellitlikeitissoaps said:
			
		

> My business name is not a logo. My business name is just the name. It is registered as just the name.
> 
> I dont have a logo for say, the flower is there for Etsy. My name is typed "Smell It Like It Is'
> 
> Per my trademark it is not to be used in anyway, tagline etc.



It's unfortunate, but you really have to choose your battles when it comes to this.  Since your biz name is a play on words that could fairly easily be thought of by other people, you will probably find it happening again and again.  If you chase down every person using that phrase, you may do more damage to your reputation than they would just using the phrase.  

I speak from experience, you just have to use discretion.  If you really think that it's going to hurt your brand and your sales, then pursue it.  Otherwise, it's probably best to let it go.  You may own the trademark but it happens to be a phrase that WILL be thought up by other people.  Do you really want to hunt them all down and risk ruining your reputation just on principle alone?  

The person using it as their tagline has a product and brand entirely different from yours.  I really doubt they pose any threat to your sales or brand recognition, though I understand your frustration.


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## Tabitha (May 3, 2009)

Kind on the same wave... the person using your biz name makes like 5 sales a month definatley not a threat. Aggrevating yes, competition NO WAY!

As for the chatroom.... your customers are not in those chat rooms & neither are mine. I had an etsy seller send me a PM one time letting me know some ladies in that chatroom did not like a word I had in my listings, it was _pure_ I think. I thanked her for the heads up, sent her an FDA link or somthing like that & told her I was very comfortable that all of my cliams/wording met FDA standards. I was aggrevated for a "split second" & got over it. The ladies that were in an uproar, were not my customer base, I believe they were other soap/bath/body makers who evidently were not familiar w/ FDA standards & guidlines :roll: ....


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## smellitlikeitissoaps (May 3, 2009)

I can understand your saying, my business name is just the name. However if it was a different field using my name.... Carpet Cleaner place, jewelry.. what ever it may be... I would not have anything to say .

The Bath & Body industry.. I have something to say. 

I not only make soap, but creams, sprays, lotions, etc. Its just not listed on the etsy site. 

So yes, she makes sprays.. i make sprays... 

I have completed my letter with a copy of my information. I will keep everyone posted on the status


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## Guest (May 4, 2009)

That would really chap my hide , I am sorry this is happening to you.I would try to do something about it , you worked hard for your good name. I would have thought it was her name if I had seen it looking at pages on etsy and not seen this post.

Kitn


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## ElenaCoralSoaps (May 7, 2009)

I feel you have every right to be upset. It is YOUR trademark and she should have taken it down the first time you conatcted her. If its not her buisness name, then why is she so hung up on using it? If I were in her situation, I wouldn't risk getting into legal trouble for something so simple as a tag line, obviously she has motive for using the name. Perhaps trying to steal your well earned reputation...maybe?


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## Guest (May 7, 2009)

ElenaCoralSoaps said:
			
		

> I feel you have every right to be upset. It is YOUR trademark and she should have taken it down the first time you conatcted her. If its not her buisness name, then why is she so hung up on using it? If I were in her situation, I wouldn't risk getting into legal trouble for something so simple as a tag line, obviously she has motive for using the name. Perhaps trying to steal your well earned reputation...maybe?



Eh, I really doubt that she is trying to steal the OP's reputation.  The tagline "Smell it like it is" goes really well with her product line, which has an edgy tone, and is of course a play on the words "Tell it like it is".

It's a fairly easy phrase to think up without "stealing" it from someone else.


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## Vinca Leaf (May 7, 2009)

I guess for me, it would be different if it was in-line text...like, "Come try XYZ body shop, where we smell it like it is!  We have a full line of blah-blah-blah..."  That, to me, would NOT be trademark infringement.  BUT what she's doing has the APPEARANCE of being her store name, which it is not, but it is yours (like you said).

I think you did the right thing by handling it privately, asking her to stop, she did not, now you are defending your trademark.  Yes, she may only do 5 sales a month...but did *anyone* start out in the hundreds?  How hard would it be for you to tell her to stop a year from now if her snarky (witty?) labels and scents caught on?

ETA: I guess they're mostly witty....it's the B*tch Away that's setting of my snark-dar.


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## ChrissyB (May 12, 2009)

How did all this pan out Smelli? Any news?


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## I love soap! (May 12, 2009)

And  the moral of the story is :

 You should check before you use an name or phras, that way you know if it is being used by someone else. It saves alot of headache.




Hey Smelli, I hope you get this resolved soon!





 :wink:  :wink:  :wink:  :wink:


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## dagmar88 (May 12, 2009)

Judging from the fact there's no longer _smell it like it is_ on her website; it's OrionStars now, something must have happened.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INELR-kW2yk[/ame]
Watched her youtube video... odd... 
And now I can really see how it could hurt a serious business if someone was selling products under your name, calling customers 'bitches', acting stoned and selling -to me- stuff that just does not look professional.
If someone came up with a name before you did, and registrated it, come up with something original yourself  :wink: 
It's not like you can say 'oops' I didn't know, we have google nowadays   
Smellitlikeitis; you were totally right trying to settle this in a normal way at first, and then going to etsy. You paid and worked for your registration and reputation. 
Hope to hear what happened!
Dagmar


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## I love soap! (May 12, 2009)

smelli, I visited your page again and i wanted to eat the soap!

I could almost smell the lime lol


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## smellitlikeitissoaps (Jul 8, 2009)

Update: 

SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT 

I had to send all my trademark information into ETSY's attorney. They then researched my trademark which is registered, they contacted her and had her remove it. They then emailed me this. 

RE: Allegation of Infringement by a User

Dear Ms. Johnson:

Thank you for your notification dated May 3, 2009 regarding the possible infringement of Smell It Like It Is's rights by a user of our service. Etsy is a venue and in accordance with Etsy’s Policy, we have removed the active material available for purchase and contacted the user(s) of our service. We appreciate that you contacted us. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Sarah Feingold


So they had her remove it from her site. I shouldnt have had to go through all that for her to just simply, click, and remove :roll: 

The best money I have ever spent... trademark


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## carebear (Jul 8, 2009)

congrats - this woman was clearly in the wrong, and even MORE clearly NOT the kind account to be accidentally connected with.  IMO.


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## oldragbagger (Jul 8, 2009)

This is something we will probably all experience at one time or the other, just because of the technical information age we live in.

Back in the day before internet, you could go to 50 little towns in 50 different states and probably 25 of them would have a "Main Street Diner" or a "Joe's Body Shop".  They didn't know about the others and as long as they were the only one in town, no problem.

But now that everyone is online and we are not only concerned about someone else in our town using our name, but we are concerned about anyone else at all using our name (and this could potentially encompass the entire globe) it becomes a really big problem.  There are only so many words in the english language, and there are lots of phrases that so perfectly describe certain crafts, arts or products that no doubt lots of people will want to use them.  And it doesn't necessarily mean they stole it, they could very well have thought of it on their own.  When I was playing with names for a soap business I made lists and lists and lists of names that my husband and I thought of.  When I googled them it was amazing how many were already in use.  Some of them were in use by someone halfway across the world, but because of the internet they could just as well have been next door to me.

I can certainly understand your frustration.  I myself was frustrated when a couple of names I really would have loved to use were already in use, but this situation does not surprise me at all.

Glad it all worked out for you.  And good for you for getting the trademark.  That will be something for me to keep in mind.


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## heyjude (Jul 8, 2009)

Glad that you got everything straightened out.   

Jude


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## Guest (Jul 9, 2009)

Good for you smellitlikeitis . I am so happy for you ..way to go .

Kitn


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