Calling All Lawyers! Pro Se Federal Court Plaintiff Seeks Intellectual Property Paladin For Battle Against Retail Behemoth And Their Legal Juggernaut
11 April 2006
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 10, 2006 - In October of 2005 writer, performer and producer Dailey Pike filed a trademark counterfeiting lawsuit against online retail giant CafePress over his registered trademark I Wish These Were Brains® U.S. Reg. No. 2,829,473.
He claimed CafePress was facilitating infringement of his trademark by competing CafePress "shopkeepers." Prior to his lawsuit Pike had been a "shopkeeper" himself since 2001.
The lawsuit landed in the courtroom of United States District Court Judge the Honorable Manuel L. Real. Docket number CV05-8109 Dailey Dennis Pike v. CafePress.com, Inc. Trial is set for August 29, 2006.
Plaintiff Pike says, "My case poses questions that could dramatically affect intellectual property law. Such as, is CafePress an internet service provider (one who provides access to the internet) or an e-commerce service (an online retailer)? They claim to be both in papers filed with the court.
"Does CafePress have the staff to monitor 24 million products and 3 million members for intellectual property infringement? How big a staff would that take?
"Are CafePress 'shopkeepers' as they call them really only sales people or middlemen since CafePress manufactures and distributes all the products sold via their website?
"Does the CafePress content usage policy chat forums educate 'shopkeepers' to prevent IP infringement or tutor them on how to push the envelope? A person typing Nascar into the search engine gets no results, but Nascars (plural) brings up many products that incorporate Nascar trademarks.
"Does the use of registered trademarks in CafePress' search engine, source code, metadata and keywords to direct customers to CafePress 'shopkeepers' who sell no licensed merchandise of the trademark owner facilitate infringement? Would such use constitute initial interest confusion?
"For example, type Coca Cola into the search engine and you'll find numerous products using Coca Cola's famous colors and font but no products licensed by Coca Cola. Type Yankees into the search engine and you'll find products with the Yankees trademark (such as Yankee Hater) not licensed by Major League Baseball.
"That might be okay for a true internet service provider like MSN, AOL or Earthlink but not okay for an online retailer which I believe CafePress is.
"I'm looking for a ferocious litagator that's not afraid to take on one of the largest law firms in the United States, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and their fierce, experienced lead attorney Jill Pietrini. The feint of heart need not apply.
"I believe my case could set precedent in the area of intellectual property law, answering questions that have never been asked in federal court."
"I also find it interesting that CafePress is one of the subjects of a Chicago-Kent School of Law trademark course taught by distinguished Professor Graeme Dinwoody that poses the question, 'Is the website CafePress.com liable for facilitating infringement by its customers who create logos and apply them to products via the website?'
Pike concluded, "If you're a legal champion, a knight of jurisprudence, looking for a David vs. Goliath challenge and want information about the case, contact me and I'll email you a link to a website where you can read the documents filed in the case and see my evidence."
ABOUT DAILEY PIKE - Dailey Pike has appeared on stage thousands of times including appearances at the Hollywood Bowl and the Apollo Theater. He has appeared on television hundreds of times and worked on dozens of television shows including Roseanne, Arsenio, Drew Carey and Ellen. His current project is I Wish These Were Brains(sm) The Movie, a Faustian teen comedy about a young college girl who unwittingly sells her soul to the Devil for bigger breasts, only to over time realize they won't stop growing.
Source: prweb
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