Safety Bullet

[wayneinFL]

Mike Worley is threatening to sue the administrator of http://www.whythesafetybulletsucks.com/. Anyone see any grounds for a lawsuit? Trademark infringement? I don't get it. Parody websites, product review websites, ihatewalmart.com, etc. wouldn't be able to exist if simply referring to the product name were illegal.

From: http://www.whythesafetybulletsucks.com/

I found that you are the individual responsible for Why the Safety Bullet sucks web site. You must be proud. The name ” Safety Bullet” is trademarked and can not be used for your web site with out my express permission and you don’t have it. You are hear by ordered to cease and desist from using that trade marked name consider this your one and only notice.

Copyright/Trademarks
All content provided on this Site, such as text, graphics, images, etc., is protected by US and international copyright laws. Except as stated herein, no material on the Site may be copied, reproduced, republished, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way. Without the express permition of Safety Bullet LLC officiers

The trademarks, service marks and logos (“Trademarks”) used and displayed on the Site Safety Bullet LLC are registered and unregistered Trademarks of Safety Bullet LLC unless otherwise noted. Nothing on the Site should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppels, or otherwise, any license or right to use any Trademark displayed on the Site.

Safety Bullet LLC is federally trademark protected, U.S. Federal Trademark & Patent registration # 3,400,356. Any duplication of Site material without our permission is plagiarism and illegal; hence any use of our name or corporate identity or marketing material by any organization other than ourselves or our authorized Safety Bullet Dealers, and without our permission, is subject to owe Safety Bullet royalty fees, penalties fines, and any legal fees in accordance with a legal suit against you.

Any unauthorized users will receive a communication from our corporate headquarters or legal counsel requesting that you cease and desist its use from any and all of your material in ANY way, including but not limited to, all business, product or promotional names, all menus, advertisements, and Web sites, within 48 hours without any penalties or legal action against you.

Legal action or recoveries from will not be sought if such parties agree, in writing, to cease and desist the use of any unauthorized Safety Bullet material. If not, we will move forward with legal action and recovery fees against the unauthorized use by any organization other than Safety Bullet or our authorized Safety Bullet partners and resellers.
Copyright. Unless otherwise indicated, all content on this site, including text, graphics, images, and logos, is the property of Safety Bullet or its content suppliers and is protected by United States copyright laws and regulations. Safety Bullet owns a copyright on this site as a collective work or compilation, and in the selection, coordination, enhancement, and arrangement of the site’s content. Safety Bullet LLC actively and aggressively enforces its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law.

 

[quatin]

In all rational reasoning and logic, it falls under fair use. But in today's world of copyright and patent trolls, anything is possible.

 

[bigfatdave]

So Mike Worley has created another chance to attention-whore his stupid "safety bullet" again, and you fell for it?

There's no such thing as bad publicity when you're trying to sell a dumb idea to politicians

 

[Johnny_Come_Lately]

disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer and don't take this as legal advice.


It seems that this particular portion of the United States Code MAY offer offer you some protection:

17 USC 107

§107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use


Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A [17 USC § §106 and 106A], the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include--


(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;


(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;


(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and


(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.


The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

That being said, I WOULD contact the US Trademark and Patent Office and an attorney to get opinions from both.

 

[TX1911fan]

The USPTO won't give anyone an opinion on fair use or infringement. I'd wait to see if he's going to sue first. If he spends the money to hire an attorney to sue, then decide what to do. You can always just pull down the site.

 

[N003k]

First, IANAL.

Second, I fail to see how a review, even an ongoing one, is trademark infringement...

Afterall, a lot of magazines would get shut down after doing a negative review on something if that's all it took.

 

[Johnny_Come_Lately]

Afterall, a lot of magazines would get shut down after doing a negative review on something if that's all it took.

Fair use, my point exactly, for purposes such as criticism specifically.

 

[seuadr]

imho he's shaking the tree to see what will fall out. he's probably hoping that the site is taken down no questions asked by menacing the owner. I see a lot of this these days, threat of legal action makes a lot of people do things that they do not want to do. If you tell them bring it, i'll see you in court, 90% of the time (in my experience) they do not bother following through because the matter is so small as to not be worth the time and money.

 

[Nushif]

did anyone notice the second sentence?

You are hear by ordered to cease and desist from using that trade marked name consider this your one and only notice.

I can guarantee you no lawyer drafted this up, because they usually don't undersign writing like this. Just an observation for kicks. 8)

 

[lemaymiami]

that last post was right on the money. Anyone can get an attorney to write your basic "threatening letter". Where the deal will be decided is when the one who is threatening finds out that to go further - they're going to have to pay their attorney up front before any actual action takes place. To be on the safe side I'd contact a reputable attorney that handles this kind of stuff and seek their advice... It will cost you but worth it if this does actually have any basis at all in law.

No, I'm not an attorney, just a retired cop who's been up and down the "system" on more than one occasion on both the crimianl and civil sides of things....

Good luck.

 

[goon]

You are hear by ordered to cease and desist from using that trade marked name consider this your one and only notice.

This sentence has questionable grammar and punctuation. I concur that no one with any sort of professional writing know-how wrote it.

 

[JellyJar]

To me this does not appear to have been written by a lawyer, or at least a lawyer with a good secretary:

You are hear by ordered to cease and desist from using that trade marked name consider this your one and only notice.

Notice that he uses the word hear when he actually means here, also there should be a comma between name and consider.

Your choice but I would tell him to go to HECK!

 

[foolsgold80z]

The proper word would be hereby, and I would not be very alarmed by that letter. Perhaps somewhat amused, but not concerned.
Letter writer -
Me -

 

[1911Tuner]

Quote:

>Notice that he uses the word hear when he actually means here,<

That, and the fact that hereby is one word.

They do tend to trip themselves up. Like the man said: "It's the little things that getcha."

 

[Leathermarshmallow]

I guess I was late to the dance. I haven't heard of the marvelous safety bullet. I went to the website to see what it is about.

I personally don't want anything in my defense gun that could hang it up where I can't clear it without the "included stick".

I can just imagine 3am and someone in my home. In the heat of the moment, I pull the trigger forgetting about the safety bullet. Gun locks up. "Honey, where is my safety bullet stick?"
Bad guy stands patiently waiting on me to find my safety bullet stick to clear my gun.

It seems that it is not much more than a snap cap that protrudes enough when you pull the trigger to lock up the mechanism.

I won't be spending my money on this.

 

[goon]

So after looking at the Safety Bullet site, I have to agree that it sucks. Furthermore, I don't really need a second website to tell me that it sucks.

 

[Johnny_Come_Lately]

So after looking at the Safety Bullet site, I have to agree that it sucks.

You think?



Let me see, I'm awoken at 3:24 AM by my doberman licking my hand then running down the hallway barking and searching for something to lock his jaws into. I jump out of my bed, grab my Glock and head into the situation behind him. I see the bad guy raising his weapon at my unflinchingly loyal buddy and fire. About the same time, I fire at the bad guy.

Oh <deleted>. During my haste, I forgot to eject the <deleted>. Oops, I also forgot to grab a wooden dowel in when I headed into the danger zone because I wanted to get to the bad guy before he got to my children's room.

Now, according to that website, I have a paper weight. Oh I know what to do. I've seen them do it in the movies many times. I'll throw my paper weight at the bad guy and hope he runs away after he shoots my dog.

 

[M-Cameron]

claiming copy right infringement on "safety bullet".....


.....simple, shut down http://www.whythesafetybulletsucks.com/


and open http://www.whythesafetiebulletsucks.com/

or....http://www.whythesafe-tbulletsucks.com/

or....http://www.whythatcrappyideaofabulletsafetysucks.com/

 

[Johnny_Come_Lately]

.....simple, shut down http://www.whythesafetybulletsucks.com/

Does he need to. According to the "Fair Use" doctrine, he is ok.

 

[M-Cameron]

Does he need to. According to the "Fair Use" doctrine, he is ok.

twas a joke........

 

[Josh45]

I just watched the animation of this safety bullet......And.....There is no way I can see anyone really buying this thing.

He's gonna get someone killed......The wrong person.

 

[bigfatdave]

I just watched the animation of this safety bullet......And.....There is no way I can see anyone really buying this thing.

look at the stupid crap politicians have forced in with new guns
trigger lock
magazine interlock
mandated heavy triggers (MA?)
gun lock
internal lock
fired case for "ballistic fingerprinting"

You think the manufacturers throw that junk in for free? If you're lucky they pass on the cost uninflated.

What's to stop some particularly ambitions and stupid political type from demanding that any new gun in their state come with this stupid device? (HA! revolvers would need one for every chamber!)
And then Ruger/S&W/etc will stick one into EVERY case with EVERY new gun and add it onto the price.

Public ridicule in an easily searchable location is a good thing on this one. It might keep some clown from adding the gadget to their campaign promises.

 

[TX1911fan]

M-Cameron, I know you were joking, but I wanted to point out that your suggestions would not work anyway. For trademark infringement (it's not copyright infringement), you can't use a word that's close and think that will work. If I started marketing computers called "Eye Bee Em" I think I'd get nailed, don't you? Confusingly similar is the keyword here.

But, fair use protects him anyway.

 

[lono]

That "safety bullet" seems like a very bad idea.

 

[Jeff H]

Afterall, a lot of magazines would get shut down after doing a negative review on something if that's all it took.

Ummmmmmmmmmmm, if you really think about this, try to remember the last negative review you have ever read from any magazine.