Comments on: SportsFilter vs. Sports Filter

Question: SportsFilter vs. Sports Filter

kirkaracha — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 13:48:32 -0800

What can I do if I'm one of the founders of a sports weblog that's been around for over three years and MSN starts a sports weblog with the same name?

By: grouse

grouse — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 14:02:16 -0800

I'm assuming you want them to stop? The first thing I would do is note on your web page that SportsFilter is a servicemark of you. Then register your servicemark ($325 filing fee) and send a cease and desist to the MSN guy.

I'm assuming that if this were sufficiently important to you, you'd be talking to a lawyer instead of us, which would probably be the best way to make sure you are taken seriously. And they'll give better advice too.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 14:04:42 -0800

Yeah, if you're serious, the only way to get this done is going to involve a lawyer. I'd avoid communicating with them except through your attorney.

By: rkent

rkent — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 14:06:06 -0800

Yes, please talk to a lawyer immediately. If you can't afford it and you can't find an IP lawyer to even give you a consultation w/o a fee, there may be some pro bono options. following up via email...

By: clearlynuts

clearlynuts — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 14:11:35 -0800

Maybe I didn't look in the right place, but where does it say that MSN created a blog? As opposed to a person with a Passport account created a blog on MSN?

At any rate, when you do retain a lawyer, ask him about other potential blogs, such as http://sportsfilter.blogspot.com

By: reverendX

reverendX — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 14:18:17 -0800

Clearlynuts appears to be correct. If you look carefully, this is just some MSN member's blog, not Microsoft corporate content.

By: o2b

o2b — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 14:25:45 -0800

MSN seems to have a whole "filter" thing going:

http://filter.msn.com/

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 15:13:19 -0800

No; it looks like the various "filters" are official MSN products. The page o2b links to refers to the authors as "our team of bloggers", which implies that they're MSN employees. Plus, they all seem to be professional writers.

Apparently "an opportunity to share your insider knowledge with the Filter community and take a chunk out of your 15 minutes of Internet fame" refers to emailing the bloggers or commenting on the blogs. I don't think these are user pages.

I agree that there is some ambiguity, though. I was going to suggest that we could email the author, but I can't seem to find an address....

By: lilnemo

lilnemo — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 15:42:05 -0800

my two cents.

By: lilnemo

lilnemo — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 15:50:51 -0800

You should ask mathowie about it, seeing as how he seems to have opted for the servicemark route.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 16:48:18 -0800

My lawyer suggested the servicemark, I just went along with it.

Kirk, I would suggest you take it up with them as you have a legit claim to the mark, as it has been in use since 2001 with the same name.

By: delfuego

delfuego — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 16:59:10 -0800

Probably the best place to leave comments on the site is on this entry (the "meet the author" entry). Be forewarned, though -- MSN Spaces is the stupidest weblog app I've ever used, with no ability to include links in comments, no preview function, and an incredibly aggressive "inappropriate language" filter that prohibited me from even using my email address. So you might have to dumb your comment down a little bit...

By: delfuego

delfuego — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 17:05:10 -0800

Oh, and at the bottom of the MSN site is a "Report Abuse" link, which brings you here. Might be worth a quick click...

By: yclipse

yclipse — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 18:58:35 -0800

As a lawyer, I always ask the client at the outset, "What do you want to accomplish?" Then my advice proceeds from that point.

Before you speak to a lawyer, as the others have wisely suggested, ask yourself that question, too.

The solution will depend on the answer. Do you want MS to stop using the name? to hire you for its SportsFilter? to put a disclaimer on the site?

to pay you a bit of money to give up the name?

By: If I Had An Anus

If I Had An Anus — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 19:36:16 -0800

As a SportsFilter user, I want the former, yclipse. For MSN to stop using the name. How does that affect the next step?

By: yclipse

yclipse — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 06:02:41 -0800

The law won't do anything for users of the site. It's only the owner who has an interest.

By: Dreama

Dreama — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 07:54:42 -0800

Reminds me of the battle when Microsoft installed some woman with rather vague qualifications and limited sentience into a site to answer techy questions, and called her The Digital Diva, which got a group of much more qualified and talented women just a tad upset. And in the end, the Divas beat the Diva.

By: VulcanMike

VulcanMike — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 21:09:45 -0800

http://filter.msn.com/

How long until there's a "meta" category?