2004-09-23

Possible legal troubles? (Part 2)

I received an e-mail on September 1 (sent to <company>@<mydomain.net>) that said:

<my name>,

Thank you for responding to our letter. Unfortunately, I have shown our Legal Department your response and they still claim it is in violation of the trademark and tradename laws and ask that you change it. 

<e-mailer's name> for <Supervisor's name>
Business Conduct & Rules

It was therefore no surprise when I received the following letter (again, the only things changed are in angle brackets):

September 16, 2004

<our names and address>

RE: E-mail Address

Dear <our names>:

On August 13, the Corporation sent you correspondence advising that your email address (<company>@<mydomain.net>) was at odds with the Rules of Conduct for <company's affiliates>.

As of the date of this letter, the Corporation has not received your written assurance that the email address has been changed. Nor have we received your promise that you will comply with the Rules of Conduct. In our previous correspondence, we indicated that the use of this email address is in violation of the Rule of Conduct as our mark (or a version of it) is being used without our permission and in a manner that will cause confusion in the market place.

We once again our requesting your written assurance with in the next 20 days that you understand and will comply with the Rules of Conduct and our request. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

<signature>
<name>, Supervisor
Business Conduct & Rules Administration Department
Office Phone <phone>
Fax <phone>
Email <e-mail address>
File <xxx>

I decided to avoid arguing about the part where I was being asked to follow the rules of one of their affiliates, or that since a complete copy of the Rules of Conduct are not available to me, I will not write or sign anything stating that I will abide by them.  I'll save that for Part 3, if it comes to that. Instead, I sent this letter:

September 23, 2004

<name>, Supervisor
Business Conduct & Rules Administration Department
<address>

Re: E-mail Address (File <xxx>)

Dear Mr. <name>:

I am writing in response to your second letter of concern over the trademarks held by <company> Corporation and the e-mail address <company>@<mydomain.net>. I'm afraid I do not understand why your concern continues. As I explained in my last letter (a copy of which is included for your convenience), the e-mail address was only given to <company> Corporation and is not used by anyone but <company> Corporation, including myself. The e-mail account itself does not exist, and never has.

I will repeat this, because apparently I was not clear enough the first time. The e-mail account <company>@<mydomain.net> does not exist. If its continued presence in your database is offensive to you or whatever rules you have created with regards to your trademarks, you are free and encouraged to delete it from your database. That will destroy it, because the only place that address has any meaning is in your database. It does not exist anywhere else.

Once again, for clarity, the e-mail account <company>@<mydomain.net> does not exist.

A written confirmation of receipt of this letter is requested as the only further correspondence on this matter.

Thank you,

<signature>
<name>

enc:copy of original correspondence
copy of my previous correspondence

To be continued? I hope not.

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