Cease and desist request - So-Cal Speed shop VS So-Cheap

Shit... I'm in for an XL t-shirt. Where do we send the cash???

 

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THEY have to PROVE copywrite infringment.


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nothing was said about copywrite infringement, it is about a trademark which is completely different. To file for a trademark will take a few moments and a few dollars. Once the process is in motion it will be anywhere from 6 to 8 months before it is put out for opposition if it even gets that far.
Free legal advice from some that cannot spell or read, Ha Ha, this is some funny stuff

 

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The only one making any money on this deal is the Lawyer.
You can pretty much bet he's getting more than S0-Cheap ever made, and he's getting it by causing bad publicity for the guy who's paying him. That's America! It would be nice if Alex and Clarke could get on the phone and talk to each other, but that's not the way the world works anymore. Sad.

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maybe we're the last gentlemen left in the country.

if Alex or Pete would call me up personally, and express their concern, they would be heard, and i would likely take some action to accomidate them. but send me a threatening letter from an attorney....you are askin for a fight!

it feels so good to be naive

 

Copywrite, trademark, YOU got my drift. I'm assuming he did as well. Just throwing in my two cents like everyone else but thanks for correcting my mistake.

 

I gotta say, since I have registered a few marks myself... I can understand their position to a point, but they are asking for stuff that is almost impossible for you to fulfill, especially when it comes to T-Shirt sales (come on, do you think you can actually track everyone who has one down) This says to me that they want a legal fight regardless of how you respond... Unfortunately this will require a lawyer to respond...

One other thought, the latter requests may be a plot to make you think about how solid your tax returns are , maybe to help you decide if you want to comply with the cease and desist part...

Good luck man...

 

Its called parody....MAD magazine built an empire on it and I 've thanked every day that they did since I was a kid. Its a joke, to be "original" would be missing the whole concept what so ever.

 

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Free legal advice from some that cannot spell or read, Ha Ha, this is some funny stuff



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I know; but you'll let these dumb bastards help you to build a car???

WTF??? Who pissed in your cheerios dude? Sorry we don't all know everything like you do.

 

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...
Second: Since when has DrJ started trying to write like Germ?

--Matt

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That was intentional...
Guess you didn't read this part;
"At least I know I won't get a cease and DE-CIST (is that acne removal?) from germ for using "CAPITALIZED ENGLISH-LANGUAGE WORDS" in my verbal-discourse. HE will meet me in an ALLEY at the Fair GROUNDS and we'll SO-LAUGH about this NON-SENSE

 

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Free legal advice from some that cannot spell or read, Ha Ha, this is some funny stuff



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I know; but you'll let these dumb bastards help you to build a car???

WTF??? Who pissed in your cheerios dude? Sorry we don't all know everything like you do.

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Not to mention some of us on here have seen things like this first hand, come and go like the tides.

 

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One other thought, the latter requests may be a plot to make you think about how solid your tax returns are , maybe to help you decide if you want to comply with the cease and desist part...

Good luck man...


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YIKES! FrameDragger has a very valid point that I never gave any thought to. The IRS is about the only thing in theis country that really scares me, they have way to much power. Thread lightly if all your ducks aren't in a row.

 

I never claimed to know everything but I do know if I got a letter from an attorney concerning trademark infringement I would take it as very serious especially from a corporation with the size and resources of SoCal. I also know that I would contact my attorney concerning the legal ramifications. I know I wouldn't ignore it as judges tend to look unfavorably at that. I also know that this won't be won or lost on a message board. I really know most lawyers are pricks until you need one, then their your best friend. And I mostly know that when it comes to legal wrangling, there is NO ROOM for emotions as that's usually the kiss of death. Get past all the emotions and rhetoric on this and there are two clear choices, if you think your right fight it, if you think your in the wrong comply. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

 

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and you came up with a rectangle instead the shape of a tittie????

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I was reading an article, the page is a rectangle...

It was an article by one of the past playmates saying she likes a guy to take 20 minutes nibbleing on her neck, etc. till shes "ready" before going down, then in the next paragraph tells a story about the best ever was a wham-Bam on the back of a fire truck and in a subway "because it was so dangerous and spontaneous"....???
No wonder guys can't figure out what women want, they don't know themselves!

Actually, I bought the mag because I''m a Buffy the Vampire Slayer nut and Charisma Carpenter is in it, Nekid!


Change it to a heart and get that instant coffee company "Cafe de Amor" in your shorts for it!

 

Charisma's in Playboy. What month? She puts the wind in my sock, I tell you what.....

 

was this letter sent certified mail (or something similar requiring your signature) or email?

 

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I never claimed to know everything but I do know if I got a letter from an attorney concerning trademark infringement I would take it as very serious especially from a corporation with the size and resources of SoCal. I also know that I would contact my attorney concerning the legal ramifications. I know I wouldn't ignore it as judges tend to look unfavorably at that. I also know that this won't be won or lost on a message board. I really know most lawyers are pricks until you need one, then their your best friend. And I mostly know that when it comes to legal wrangling, there is NO ROOM for emotions as that's usually the kiss of death. Get past all the emotions and rhetoric on this and there are two clear choices, if you think your right fight it, if you think your in the wrong comply. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

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I hate to say it, but I totally agree with him.

 

We deal with this type of thing from time to time at the company I work for and we've been on both sides of the "cease and desist" letter. It's a pain in the ass no matter how you slice it.

I doubt So-Cal is out to "get" anybody. Whenever a company gains knowledge that their trademark is used in such a way that could be considered infringement or a dilution of the brand, they are obligated to defend that mark. If they fail to defend the mark, they risk having it declared "abandoned" by the USPTO and therefore they may lose their right to protect the mark in future infringement cases.

Get yourself to an IP lawyer and see what they say before you do anything.

 

Wow this is some interesting news. I wouldn't worry about it until somebody shows up at your house with a baseball bat to break your legs. If guys from SO-GAY BATH HOUSE are really on here, I wouldn't say anymore about anything.

 

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Charisma's in Playboy. What month? She puts the wind in my sock, I tell you what.....

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JUNE issue on the stands NOW if it's not SOLD OUT!
She's nekid on the cover, and remember, she had a baby a year ago....

 

Quick Google Search:

http://www.patentfla.com/articles/trademark_parody.htm

"Engaging in trademark parody is a little like shooting at the king. You had better be good at it, because if you attempt and fail, you are in big trouble.

Parody is a defense to trademark infringement.1 The defense is that there is no likelihood of confusion because the parody will not be taken seriously. While it must initially bring to mind the original, it must be clever enough to be clear that it is not the original nor connected with the original, but is a parody, a humorous take-off on the original.

II. Good Parody - Getting it Right

In order to be successful as a defense to infringement, trademark parody must be handled correctly.

The elements of parody are:

i) an original host work;

ii) the original host work must be famous and/or known to the particular target audience;

iii) the creator of the derivative work, the parody, must take only so much of the original work as necessary to bring to mind the original host work; and

iv) the derivative work which conjures up the famous host must result in a new, original work.



Parody, by definition brings to mind the original. It then spoofs the original in some way. Once you have brought the original to mind in connection with a product or name other than the original, one of two things is going to happen, it will either be judged a valid parody, in which case there is no liability, or there will be trademark infringement."





There is more there for you if you are so inclined to read it...

I think you look pretty much ok...

But then again, I am not qualified to judge

Mike

 

Make a shirt that say <font color="red"> S0-Cheap So-FUCK YOU! </font> and I'll Buy it for sure!

 

I have to admit, considering the fact that you're obviously "the little guy", they could have at least contacted you first and asked nicely if you would create a different logo instead of sicking attorneys on you.

Having actually bought things from So-Cal in the past, I can tell you that it'll be cold day in hell before I buy anything from them again. I choose not to do business with pricks who have lawyers threaten people instead of just trying to settle things in a civil manner. I hope others view this &amp; feel the same way. Word of mouth advertising can be great, but it can also be a real bitch.

Hopefully someone over there at So-Cal is reading this thread.

If I were you I would take one of your shirts &amp; have their atty's letter printed on the back of it and wear it to carshows, and then tell everyone who will listen all about it.

Most of the people in our hobby aren't rich guys (well, except for the guys who buy their hot rods from So-Cal), and I would imagine that most of them would be sympathetic when they heard your story, and I bet some of them would stop buying So-Cal's products (like me for instance).

 

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Charisma's in Playboy. What month? She puts the wind in my sock, I tell you what.....

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JUNE issue on the stands NOW if it's not SOLD OUT!
She's nekid on the cover, and remember, she had a baby a year ago....

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Oh shit I'm going to the news stand right now ! ! ! I'm glad I read all this nonsense ! thanks Doc .

 

If I remember correctly, they also have to show that your logo harms or harmed them in some way. That would be incredibly hard to do. They would have to prove that people bought shirts from you, thinking they were So-Cal shirts.

I'll talk to a lawyer I know when I get a chance...

 

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Dammit, i'm sick of the big corporations always trying to stick it in the little guy's ass.

FUCK soCal.



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Amen brother. It's like some people want ALL the money. I haven't shopped SoCal before but I sure won't now. And I'll tell everybody I can think of about their lack of sense of humor and their urge to push the little guy around.

Hey if we all make a big deal about this something might get done. Hot rod shit is a niche market and we have a pretty loud voice.

I would suggest So-Cheap get an attorney to check this out and I would also suggest that folks from the HAMB start writing emails to the Contact Us portion of the SoCal webpage. If they are greedy enough to hassle a HAMBer then maybe they're greedy enough to realize that stunts like this will adversely affect their business and 'cease and desist' themselves.

And So-Cheap and any other 'So-something' out there, please let us know how this thing shakes out.

Regards,

Big Daddy Eric

 

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Sorry if no one else see's the humor in this...but I made my own day when this popped into my head. Hahaha, I'm so funny.

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that's the coolest thing I have ever seen. I gotta ask, dont you people go to work?

 

Here's what I think ya should do: Super impose their logo sort of over yours so it reads :"So-Cal Speed Shop is not exactly So-Cheap." It should shut them up and of course, I'll order an XL. Think we can have them by El Mirage next Sunday? I'm offering a free Bloody Caligula at the Good guys gig in Pomona to anybody who wears one.

Phil
Viperssssss…

 

Why so much disrespect for so cal? Dudes have paid their dues a long time ago. In my apenyen some of the biggest rulers / innovators / traditionalists (I thought that’s what this place was about) in this hobby? / sport? Ripping off their logo was wrong you knew it when you did it and you shure as hell know it now. You should show some respect apologies and change your shit before you get your ass kicked in court.

 

Just change your logo and the name a bit... like this....
problem solved....

HC