Neomail vs. Neomail

Vagatech writes: "Neomail, a GPL project to create a high quality Web frontend to local unix mail spools, has recently come under the gun after dicovering that an online community provider known as Neopets is presently attempting to win a trademark on the Neomail name. Ernie Miller, creator of Neomail is understandably quite concerned about this development and the repeated brushoffs he and his lawyer have received from the company in there efforts to find a solution to this problem. He has therefore posted this page to provide more information about the case as it stands and to ask for advice and support from the Opensource community at large." I thought this was interesting because it hasn't gotten to the lawsuit stage yet - there may still be hope. General advice to Miller: you can oppose the granting of trademarks during the process. Talk to your lawyer.

No, this is a trademark issue.

[yerricde]

The GNU General Public License is a copyright license. Copyrights and trademarks are two distinct Licensable Rights (I hate the term intellectual property). Unlike copyrights, trademarks do not have to be original, just distinctive in the field at the time of registration. Trademark registrations can also be renewed (for extra money) ten years at a time, unlike copyright which is automatically perpetual [everything2.com] for any work created on or after January 1, 1923.

neopets and scientology

[Lynnux]

Before you guys go picking fights with their attorneys, you probably want to know that the executive team and board at neopets are all scientology members.

Another Neomail

[Vagatech]

Hate to say it but after further web searchs I've come to the conclusion that Ernie may be screwed.

There seems to be yet another Neomail [neomail2000.com], again providing web based e-mail related services. This one apperently released there first version in 1999 which would pre-date both Neomail by Ernie and the Neomail provided by NeoPets

This presents a major problem. Even if Ernie can block Neopets from registering the trademark all of his arguments would hold little-to-no water if the folks at Neomain decided to register it.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news like this. Especialy with the great repect I have for Ernie as a programmer and the love I have for Neomail, but be that as it may it does seem to rightfully belong to Neomain

My recommendation would probably be to just pack it up and go through the trouble of a namechange for the app

And just out of spite send an e-mail on over to Neomain telling them about NeoPets, I'm sure it would at least make for some amusing fireworks as two well funded legal departments got to fighting over it. :)

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Re:Another Neomail

[Bedemus]

Remember, I'm not opposed to someone who rightfully deserves the NeoMail name getting it, I'm opposed to the injustice being done by NeoPets. When I did my checking back in Feb., these guys had some korean/chinese site, and that was it, as best I could find. I wasn't 100% sure at the time what was being offered as I couldn't read the language, but since they weren't based in the US (and still aren't) and didn't have an international trademark pending, I felt pretty safe assuming there'd be no conflict between us. Still, if they were to get it because they had used it in the US first, or some international common law I'm unaware of kicked in, I'd have no problem with it, as it'd be rightfully theirs.
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NeoMail - Webmail that doesn't suck... as much.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Neomail.org

[Chacham]

Isn't this a perfect case for NeoPets to use Neomail.com and him to use Neomail.org? They're both taken, I have no idea who owns what, but isn't that what .com and .org are all about. Even if they are not honored as such in commercial practice.

Re:Neomail.org

[Bedemus]

The domain isn't what's being disputed, it's the trademark. You're precisely right in the statement you made about domain name usage, though. :)
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NeoMail - Webmail that doesn't suck... as much.

Confusion

[emag]

Significantly, just last month NeoPets.com had over 2.7 million unique visitors, with over 1.7 billion page views. Yet, at no time have any of our users ever confused our NeoMail service within our website with your client's software program.

Not that I would advocate it, but a few "confused users" who were looking for the NeoMail web application might want to ask NeoPets where they could download it.

Again, I wouldn't advocate this, but I'd certainly suggest being polite and confused.

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Hypocrite !

[frost22]

Let me summarize it:

Open Source Author sees someone ist TMing his name. He contacts them.
He gets a letter from their lawyer essentially saying 'lets just get along, nobody gets confused, no need for trouble'.

IMO this constitutes a decent proposal of good net.neighbourship. But our OS author now sends a lawyer letter to them getting nasty.

Why ? Why didn't he simply say, "ok, fine proposal, lets make it a contract" ???

IMO this smacks of hypocrisy.

f.

Why oh why can't the lawyers go away.

[Masem]

I had a friend that ran into a similar sitauation about 3 years ago. His domain (not mentioned to avoid /. on his poor modem based connection) had a name for his self-founded, unregistered company, which I'll call MyNet Co. A group that was a registered company with the same name with one additional word (like MyNet Photography Co) in a similar area contacted him and asked for a simple request: just make sure that on the front page of his site to indicate that he was not afflicated with MyNet, and to provide a link to their site. My friend readily agreed, and everything went along smoothly since then.

This case sounds very similar. Sure, NeoMail.com and NeoMail.org would be owned by separate registrants, but their purpose is sufficiently different that trademark-wise, they would be quite different. (IIRC, there's 17 different classes that one can register a trademark is, as to allow "Bob's Autos" and "Bob's Groceries" to exist in the same geographical regions. Of course, some companies have made sure that their trademark goes over all of these classes *cough*ms*cough* as to prevent dilution).

Re:neopets and scientology

[YvRich]

WHY is this relevant??

Why are you dragging that FUD into this story?

I'm sorry, but I'm sick of seeing minority religions (even ones that are in high disfavor) used to tarnish people who we otherwise know nothing about.

And you have nothing to back up your statement! No link, nothing! How can you possibly expect anyone to take you seriously? (Except the anti-scientologists who want more FUD to back up their opinions....)

(Okay, rant mode off now.)