Choose your own trademark adventure: Ozimals versus Ben Schumann
Posted on 15. Sep, 2009 by Moo Money in Gossip
No bunnys is good bunnys
Many cases of trademark theft are cut and dry. You see an instance of your product or logo, issue a DMCA, and go from there. It’s not often that you’re presented with chat logs that attempt to explain what happened so badly that you have to put them up for review. There are two sides to every story, and this week, we’re letting them face off with each other.
In this corner, weighing in at roughly a few months old is the Ozimals brand, by Magic of Oz. We wrote about the bunnies they’re developing on Sunday, but the story behind the grief that they’re facing is much more interesting, in my opinion. According to Candy Cerveau, they’ve dotted their i’s and crossed their t’s when it comes to preparation for the little critters. That’s what makes this such a harey hairy scandal.
They were approached by contendor number two, Ben Schumann, an enterprising individual that purchased sims named Chicken, Turtles, Rabbits, and Bunnys in order to capitalize on the current pet trend sweeping Second Life. His side of the chatlog is in such broken English that it’s hard to tell if he’s threatening her or just improperly wording things. According to Ben, he just wanted to feature her products on his sim and offer her space, and since he couldn’t find her US trademark, he was entitled to use the name of her animals to promote his sim.
Did Ben have ill intentions or was he just translating, which he does with an in-world tool, wrong? Could it have been the work of his native language, German, which is structured as commands instead of the wordy sentences that English speakers use? Could those commands translated into English be perceived as threats? It’s up to you, dear readers, to decide whether a great injustice was committed.
The following chatlog was provided by Candy Cerveau, of Magic of Oz, and takes place over two days. It’s not that interesting of a read at first, but gets intense after a while. I have to warn you, though, that it’s a very long wall of text.
September 10th, between 6:40am and 7:02am PDT/SL time
Ben Schumann: (Saved Wed Sep 09 07:12:32 2009) candy you here
Ben Schumann: (Saved Wed Sep 09 07:12:46 2009) wen you here write me please i have a ask
Candy Cerveau: Hi Ben, what can I do for you? 
Ben Schumann: hello make you the rabbits?
Ben Schumann: the ozimals
Candy Cerveau: hi, yes we are getting ready to release them in a few weeks
Ben Schumann: ok
Ben Schumann: i have the simname rabbits and bunnys
Ben Schumann: you can make a shop for free
Ben Schumann: for you publicity
Ben Schumann: and promotion
Candy Cerveau: well we have our own sim for Ozimals – so for right now, I don’t think we will be doing any outside shops, but I’ll keep that in mind and I appreciate the offer
Ben Schumann: ok np
Ben Schumann: why you have not the name ozimals
Candy Cerveau: as a sim name?
Ben Schumann: yes
Candy Cerveau: there’s a name change already in progress for the sim we are using
Ben Schumann: ok i order the not
Candy Cerveau: yeah, thanks for that.
Ben Schumann: i have order wen you not self
Ben Schumann: and docking the sim rabbits
Ben Schumann: and bunnys
Candy Cerveau: I’m sorry – I didn’t understand that
Ben Schumann: sorry my english is not good
Candy Cerveau: no problem
Ben Schumann: i think wen you not the sim name self
Ben Schumann: i take this by linden lab
Ben Schumann: and andocking the sim by me
Ben Schumann: wen you say you want self the name i make this not
Candy Cerveau: ohh I see
Candy Cerveau: right.
Ben Schumann: ok you make the name self
Candy Cerveau: yes, that’s correct
Ben Schumann: ok
Ben Schumann: and i think better make a trademark
Candy Cerveau: for Ozimals? Already done
Ben Schumann: yes for the name ozimals
Candy Cerveau: yes, we have done that
Ben Schumann: is 600 us dollar this make you with the rabbits in one week i think
Ben Schumann: or more
Candy Cerveau: well, we certainly hope they will be successful but we don’t know how much yet
Ben Schumann: yes ok wen you want a little land or a shop say me this i make one parcel for you who is the tp
Ben Schumann: i make a rabbity market
Ben Schumann: i think sion make a new rabbits and hunny bunny make rabbits
Candy Cerveau: hm, I’ve not heard that sion is making rabbits – I’m surprised, he said he would never make anything but chickens.
Ben Schumann: then it is a rumor
Candy Cerveau: I think some people have heard bunnies are coming and assume sion is doing it.
Ben Schumann: yes
Ben Schumann: ok can i make a deko for you rabbits
Candy Cerveau: a deko?
Ben Schumann: yes a pic
Candy Cerveau: what do you mean? I’m sorry.
Ben Schumann: or you logo
Candy Cerveau: for what, exactly?
Ben Schumann: for this cooming i make a market
Ben Schumann: for coming soon
Candy Cerveau: oh, I see. Well, I’d rather wait on that until we actually decide to go there. I would hate for people to be confused
Ben Schumann: ok no problem
Candy Cerveau: check back with me in a month or so, ok?
Ben Schumann: I think I ask before you and me problems and before I ask hunny bunny
Candy Cerveau: problems?
Candy Cerveau: sorry, didn’t understand that
September 11th, between 10:09am and 10:59am PDT/SL time
Candy Cerveau: Ben – I see you are using my trademarked logo on your land as well as using my trademarked name in the description. I need you to remove both of those IMMEDIATELY as I specifically DENIED you permission to use them. This is a violation of Linden Labs policy and I will AR you if it isn’t done right now.
Ben Schumann: i delete this
Ben Schumann: and i look the tradmarside from USA this is not a tradmark and i make now one on this name
Ben Schumann: bye
Candy Cerveau: its already established in process and it doesn’t have to be registered yet to belong to us – so sorry to disappoint you.
Ben Schumann: you can make a new name i make now a trademark
Candy Cerveau: not going to happen, so sorry. The application is already in.
Ben Schumann: i look in the us trademark DB you have nosing
Ben Schumann: the name is not safe
Candy Cerveau: Let me say this simply for you – IT IS IN PROCESS
Ben Schumann: no and no in process
Ben Schumann: i look
Ben Schumann: wen you make a trade mar i can see
Ben Schumann: i have 50 names safet
Ben Schumann: is ok
Ben Schumann: i make self
Candy Cerveau: you cannot submit an application at this point – good try though.
Ben Schumann: you wanths me make trouble is ok
Candy Cerveau: wonderful morality you have there, its really professional.
Ben Schumann: you
Ben Schumann: you say you have a trademark you have nothing
Ben Schumann: i look
Candy Cerveau: no, I just don’t want my work used without permission.
Ben Schumann: why are you lying
Candy Cerveau: clearly, you don’t properly understand US trademark law, however my attorney does.
Ben Schumann: i give you the link from the us database
Ben Schumann: moment
Ben Schumann: and you can see you have NOTHING
Candy Cerveau: I don’t appreciate you threatening me either. I think that is also something that can be abuse reported. I am done with this conversation.
Ben Schumann: yes you say me you have
Ben Schumann: why are you lying
Ben Schumann: you have not
Ben Schumann: and wen you have not i can make and make and make
Ben Schumann: ehat is you problem
Ben Schumann: isay you yesterday make one wen you not make i make
Candy Cerveau: I don’t lie. I don’t appreciate the insult.
Candy Cerveau: It is flatly wrong for you to use my intelletual property wthout permission. Simple as that. This conversation is over.
Ben Schumann: you say you have a name change in process
Ben Schumann: from a simname you have nothing
Ben Schumann: what is you problem
Ben Schumann: why are you lying
Candy Cerveau: sorry, wrong again – the name change has already been done.
Ben Schumann: i can order the name you have not
Candy Cerveau: you need to remove my logo that you stole without permission from this land
Ben Schumann: who
Ben Schumann: i can make all wen you have no trademark and you have no
Candy Cerveau: when you search on the map for Ozimals, you can see the sim there. So drop that lame arguement. Its done.
Ben Schumann: and
Ben Schumann: i can make
Ben Schumann: i can make a sim with the name ozimals
Ben Schumann: i can make all
Candy Cerveau: I’ve submitted an AR report on you for the logo. I am muting you now. I am not wasting more time with you.
Wanting to get Ben’s side of the story, I sent him a message myself. I approached the conversation expecting him to be hostile, but he wouldn’t even refer to Ozimals by their name. You would think that someone threatening to apply for your trademark out from under you would refer to your product by its full name.
September 14th, between 9:41pm and 10:22pm PDT/SL time
moo Money: Can I ask you about something?
moo Money: I wanted to hear your side of the story
moo Money: What happened with Candy Cerveau and Ozimals?
Ben Schumann: i make in my landsearche from the sim rabbit the with the O
Ben Schumann: the name
Ben Schumann: wit O
Ben Schumann: h
Ben Schumann: and candy say delete
Ben Schumann: i say why
moo Money: I have the chatlog here
moo Money: http://tinypaste.com/381fbf1
Ben Schumann: i look in the trademark database
Ben Schumann: hes have not a trademark
moo Money: it looks like you told her you’d take her trademark out from under her
Ben Schumann: to this time
moo Money: and will cause her trouble
Ben Schumann: i have the name with the O in my land search
Ben Schumann: and candy come to me and say make delete
Ben Schumann: i say why
Ben Schumann: hes have to this time no trademark
Ben Schumann: and make trouble
moo Money: Linden Lab allows for Intellectual Property (IP) rights. She is entitled to ask you to take down her logo, which she says in the chatlog.
moo Money: She can issue a DMCA and have LL take it down, trademarked or not
Ben Schumann: i have not the logo
Ben Schumann: i have the name in the search
moo Money: you told her in the chatlog that you would make trouble for her
moo Money: said you would register the Ozimal sim name
moo Money: said you would register the Ozimal trademark
moo Money: I am giving you a chance to be honest and forthright with me before I post this information to Shopping Cart Disco
Ben Schumann: yes i say who candy make trouble candy have no a trademark
Ben Schumann: i make not more
Ben Schumann: on my market i not allowed the bunnys with begin the name with O
Ben Schumann: i think candy would not the bunnys for sale on my market hes say delete the name and now i allowed this not more
Ben Schumann: and all is ok
moo Money: thank you for airing your side of the conversation
Ben Schumann: no problem candy make a big trouble i think i can help wen the i the rabbits salle on my market
moo Money: what rabbits?
moo Money: hunnybunny?
Ben Schumann: a other new bunnys
I determined that I had effectively gathered his side and began working on the post. However, as I looked deeper at it, I remembered how badly our translated conversation was in the Turtles sim when he asked me if I’d updated my turtles to the new version that just came out. I could hardly understand him! I decided to go back for more info, which actually told me a great deal about his intentions.
September 14th & 15th, between 11:49pm and 12:38am PDT/SL time
moo Money: hey when do the bunnys and rabbits sims open?
moo Money: and did you know that bunnys is spelled bunnies in english?
Ben Schumann: bunnys is ok
moo Money: americans might spell it wrong
moo Money: and not arrive at your sim
Ben Schumann: i can make in the search or i can order a new sim
Ben Schumann: is no the problem
Ben Schumann: the problem is no
moo Money: I see
Ben Schumann: i make not more the rabbits and bunnys
moo Money: I understand
moo Money: when do they open?
moo Money: for business
Ben Schumann: i think my friend make this self
Ben Schumann: katz and dogs
moo Money: okay
Ben Schumann: ich verstehe den ganzen trouble not
Ben Schumann: I understand the whole not trouble
moo Money: I think the problem is your language
moo Money: the german language is made up of orders / commands
Ben Schumann: ich verstehe nicht warum wenn ich was mache ich muss 8 becor sagen ich bringe was neue rabbits
Ben Schumann: I do not understand why if I do what I need 8 Becor I say bring what new rabbits
moo Money: which when translated into the english language is seen as threatening
Ben Schumann: this make all people crazy
Ben Schumann: All this make people crazy
moo Money: and hostile
Ben Schumann: i say not an wen i fertig come was neues
Ben Schumann: i say not to come wen i done something new
Ben Schumann: ich muss nicht machen 9 wochen for noting trouble
Ben Schumann: I do not have 9 weeks for noting trouble
moo Money: 9 weeks of what?
moo Money: it’s hard to understand you even with the translator
Ben Schumann: ok new
Ben Schumann: wenn du was machst
Ben Schumann: if you do what
Ben Schumann: du machst fertig
Ben Schumann: you make ready
Ben Schumann: und es kommt auf den markt
Ben Schumann: and it comes on the market
Ben Schumann: du musst nicht 8 wochen davor schreien
Ben Schumann: you must not cry in front of 8 weeks
Ben Schumann: verstehst du
Ben Schumann: you know
Ben Schumann: you make and wenn ist fertig du machst es auf den markt
Ben Schumann: And if you make is finished you do it on the market
Ben Schumann: und nicht weekly befor make a trouble for noting
Ben Schumann: weekly and not befor make a trouble for noting
moo Money: so the land will be ready in 9 weeks?
Ben Schumann: lol
Ben Schumann: no
moo Money: I’m sorry it’s 2am for me
Ben Schumann: for me 9 am
moo Money: but I want to make sure I understand you correctly because I’m pretty sure that your english is so bad that she misunderstood you somehow
Ben Schumann: yes I think so
Ben Schumann: yes ich denke auch
Ben Schumann: ich wollte candy helfen
Ben Schumann: I wanted to help candy
Ben Schumann: and candy make a big trounle
Ben Schumann: trouble
moo Money: I see
moo Money: well, I’m not sure what happened
moo Money: because it’s he said / she said
moo Money: but because it has gone public that she believes you are trying to trademark her business, I am putting it up for the public to decide
moo Money: I think they’re just going to determine that your english is really, really bad
Ben Schumann: yes
Ben Schumann: ich weiss
Ben Schumann: i know
Ben Schumann: sorry
Ben Schumann: ich wollte helfen für den markt for the candy rabbits
Ben Schumann: I wanted to help the market for the candy rabbits
Ben Schumann: an write the name in the landsearch for the market
Ben Schumann: to write the name in the land search for the market
Ben Schumann: and candy see this
Ben Schumann: and see this candy
Ben Schumann: and make trouble
Ben Schumann: ich wollte nicht den namen
Ben Schumann: I did not want the name
Ben Schumann: ich wollte verkaufen
Ben Schumann: I wanted to sell
Ben Schumann: und deshalb ich schreibe den namen
Ben Schumann: and so I write the names
moo Money: you wanted to sell vendor spots for people to sell their animals they breed?
Ben Schumann: in the land suche
Ben Schumann: in the land search
Ben Schumann: yes
moo Money: you are featuring both of the other makers of bunnys, yes?
Ben Schumann: es geht mir nicht um the rabbits and bunnys
Ben Schumann: it’s not about me, the rabbits and bunnys
Ben Schumann: es is farmer land
Ben Schumann: It is farmer land
moo Money: well, you’ve handled yourself very calmly during my questioning
moo Money: you could have easily shouted or banned me from your sim
moo Money: thank you for clearing this up for me
Ben Schumann: kein problem
Ben Schumann: no problem
Ben Schumann: vieleicht kannst du reden mit candy
Ben Schumann: Maybe you can talk with candy
moo Money: based on the way she responded to your conversation, I’m not sure she’ll be open to discussion on it
Ben Schumann: ich denke es war alles ein missverständnis
Ben Schumann: I think it was all a misunderstanding
moo Money: am I understanding you correctly that Ozimal-bred animals will not be welcome on those sims due to her lack of consent for it?
moo Money: I’m off to finish this post and get some sleep, but I’ll see if I can talk to Candy
Ben Schumann: danke
Ben Schumann: “thanks”,[["interjection","ta!","Thank you!","thanks!"]]
After reading the conversation multiple times, and even consulting a friend to interpret it, I think he was just trying to tell her that US trademark law didn’t apply in Germany, which meant he was within his power to allow Ozimals breeders to rent on his sim in the future. He did not ban me, yell at me, or do anything out of the ordinary, neither before or after finding out that I was asking because of this blog post. He expressed sadness that he was unable to come to an agreement with Candy, but did note that two other upcoming bunny creators would be renting on his two hare-raising (har!) sims.
As for who is ultimately right in this epic battle between good and evil, I’m not sure the case is so black and white. What’s your opinion on this ‘Choose your own trademark adventure’ tale?
Business-in-your-box
Sep 15th, 2009
that Ben Schumann guy is a nasty piece of work
Business-in-your-box
Sep 15th, 2009
thats the thing about second life… as soon as people smell money, they are on you like flies, and will do anything to get a piece of the pie… *sigh*
Business-in-your-box
Sep 15th, 2009
He may as well put Armidi too in his search and see what happens
Ann Launay
Sep 15th, 2009
If he was just trying to tell her something about German versus US trademark law, I'm not sure why he would have bothered searching for hers and then telling her – repeatedly – that she was lying about it. I mean, if he doesn't believe US trademarks are applicable in Germany, the existence, or lack thereof, of one shouldn't matter.
whatever
Sep 15th, 2009
I see both sides of this, he seems within his rights to put up some sims for people to farm the animals which probably only helps Candy's sales in the long run. However I'd like to give a massive thumbs up to moo for a well-written post that doesn't jump to conclusions and actually considers more than one viewpoint! I found this terribly refreshing for this blog.
Emerald Wynn
Sep 15th, 2009
Sometimes I think I'm the only one in Second Life who doesn't have an attorney.
I think this is just a big damn confusing mess. Many of those chicken markets out there have 'sionChickens' in the LM description. I kind of think that's only what Ben was trying to do. But then again, what do I know? I'm just a grown woman trying to participate in a conversation about fake bunnies. (Or 'Bunnys.')
layne Jewell
Sep 15th, 2009
Reading what he told moo, it sounds like he jumped the gun. I think when she said get back with me in a month or so, he thought that was a yes. (I saw that as thanks but really no thanks) So he jumped ahead and put it in search. I think it surprised him when she did say no. I didn't see it as mean but he might of. So i think he went into "push comes to shove" mentality and said some things he regretted. That was shown when moo got a hold of him and he wouldn't refer to the animals by name. He did say "all is ok" so I guess he finally understood he couldn't do this and stopped. If he didn't, well then he is an asshole.
I think sometimes we forget that SL brings so many different cultures to the table. Sometimes what some see as being sincere, others might see as downright rude. This guy was pushy. I have never met Candy personally, but have seen her posts on some of the forums and blogs I read. From what Ive seen, she always seems to be level headed and honest. She was really being nice and trying to say no. He just wouldn't take the no. From what he said it looks like he got the point. ~crosses fingers~
Business-in-your-box
Sep 15th, 2009
Nevermind that this guy can't speak english, he gets points for being a complete retard – you'd think that if he was going to approach someone who spoke a different language, he'd have prepared a concise notecard or something, and that way would lots of the misunderstandings. But I suppose thats the nature of *business* in SL (or failed business ventures), the wannabe sim lord who has ideas but fails in execution. *Le Sigh*
Business-in-your-box
Sep 15th, 2009
*avoid misunderstandings
CyclicGearz
Sep 15th, 2009
Thing is, if I recall right, US Trademark law is recognised as legally binding etc in Germany, just like any other UN member recognises the laws and such of all the other UN countries.
My German isn't the best, but I think he's illiterate even in his own language, because some of his words were just nonsense, even in German.
I do hope the Ozimals team manage to get their name copyrighted, because people like him, trying to make a profit off someone else's business are scummy and will try and use their name.
Kasen Kazan
Sep 17th, 2009
The U.S. trademark gives you the option to trademark for just the U.S. or make it a world trademark. The former being more $$ to do.
So If it is just a U.S. trademark, would be hard to make something of it, unless you consider that LL is a U.S. company. Being world wide with severs all over, don't know how that would work out.
Skinkie
Sep 15th, 2009
Firstly, kudos to you Moo for a well-balanced, non-emotive post about this. It's refreshing to read.
Secondly, I'm confused. I was under the impression that as Second Life is hosted on US-based servers that all content in SL is governed by US law, not individual user's local laws. If that is correct, then surely it doesn't matter one bit what German Copyright/Trademark law says (other than it may place additional governance under which German citizens must abide – ie. British users paying VAT on income from SL).
Lastly, in cases such as these I believe it would be in the best interests of those concerned to use qualified translation services, of which a number are available in SL charging SL-rates (which, compared to paying for copyright or a sim, is negligable). For less than the cost of a Chocolate Flop-Earred Dutch this could have been a total non-issue.
Kasen Kazan
Sep 17th, 2009
I think that Germany has some screwed up trademark laws. Has always been some issues with Germany trademarks.
Eboni Khan
Sep 15th, 2009
Moo did a great job presenting the information and letting the reader decide instead of writing with obvious bias. Nice change of pace.
Monolock
Sep 15th, 2009
1) German is in no way his first language although he seems to sit infront of a german computer. He is making grammar mistakes (messed-up sentence structure) that i only know in this form by native english speaking people (lol)
), tired to gather people, and suddenly out of the blue was threatened with an AR (as he clearly didn't get that Candy said beyond "i don't want a shop"), trying to defend himself by stating that she has no base for an abuse report.
2) As some people set up Gore-sims and rent to Gore-roleplayers and Gore-shops he seems to set up a Breeder-sim (new counter culture in SL
3) I think both parties were lost in translation, noone is good or evil here, just normal people who have fun in SL their way (unless opening a themed rental-sim per se is evil).
And i really don't get why this ends up in a blog???????
Monolock
Sep 15th, 2009
Ohhhh, he might be dutch using his german knowledge to translate to english as he doesn't have a dutch-english translator. Dutch has a similar sentence structure as English.
moomoney
Sep 15th, 2009
I thought he was German, but some of the stuff he said in German wouldn't even translate when he put it right in front of me. I was talking to him in person, so I could see some of the translations, which I chose to keep in to show how difficult it was to converse with him.
Eliza Wrigglesworth
Sep 15th, 2009
I'm a little confused now.
If I breed Ozimal rabbits, and get a little parcel of land to sell them, am I not allowed to advertise that I'm selling Ozimal bunnies? Wait, am I even allowed to sell them at all?
moomoney
Sep 15th, 2009
They have two options. Breeding and non breeding bunnies, so I'm assuming that the breeding ones would be able to be sold. However, Ben won't let anyone sell them on his land because of his conversation with Candy. I would double check with Candy on whether they can be sold at all. They literally just entered beta testing, so this all won't play out for at least another month.
Eliza Wrigglesworth
Sep 15th, 2009
This is just an opinion, as I never got into the chicken craze, and I probably won't do bunnies either, but if you're not allowed to sell what you breed, then the only point to having the breeders is to watch bunnies being "affectionate".
Eww, and wtf?
Dove Swanson
Sep 16th, 2009
lol There will be a market…the details on how/what/when/where are not out there yet, though.
Bunny pervs!
Candy_Cerveau
Sep 16th, 2009
Hi Eliza, yes of course anyone can sell the bunnies and also any products you might make for them. We've made that clear from the beginning on our website, blog and forums (not that I assume you read those but just for the history) I'm sorry this post has made things confusing. It was never about trying to keep people from advertising using Ozimals – it was about theft and threats from a single person. Hope this clears it up for you
Blingtardette
Sep 15th, 2009
However you look at it, he's trying to make a fast buck off someone else's work. I don't blame Candy for muting him. I would probably have done it sooner.
moomoney
Sep 15th, 2009
Having been around sion chickens and petable turtles, everyone is trying to make a quick buck off of the creators. That's the whole goal. Whether it be breeders selling their eggs, or even their rare eggs and turtles, or land owners starting up rental sims. There's already a sim called Chickens, as well as probably 100 chicken malls. The turtle malls have already started up and those pets are only like 2 weeks old.
Dove Swanson
Sep 15th, 2009
I might be a bit biased, I'd like to think not …but these parts really red-flag for me:
Ben Schumann: and i look the tradmarside from USA this is not a tradmark and i make now one on this name
Ben Schumann: bye
Ben Schumann: you can make a new name i make now a trademark
Ben Schumann: i look in the us trademark DB you have nosing
Ben Schumann: the name is not safe
Ben Schumann: i can make a sim with the name ozimals
What part of that reads as someone confused, or polite, or even curious? It reads like someone completely aware (or at least they think they are) of what they are doing, how they are doing it and why. If you remove all the translation mumbo-jumbo and just read that part as it is, it sounds very threatening, very malicious and full of perfectly clear intent.
It doesn't sound like "oh sorry, I will remove those logos/names, I didn't know you had them trademarked. You should trademark them if you don't already. I only used them to attract people to this sim for your benefit."
Eliza Wrigglesworth
Sep 15th, 2009
Good point. Yes, I think he was trying to make a quick buck from someone else's hard work and creativity, and I think he was trying to intimidate her also. When he found out how much trouble he'd get into, he backed off so far as to not want to type out the word "Ozimal".
What an ass.
Dove Swanson
Sep 16th, 2009
Yeah, this line makes me do a double-take too:
Ben Schumann: you wanths me make trouble is ok
That sounds A LOT like "you want me to make trouble, okay!" – sounds like a threat to me.
I just don't buy that everything from start to finish was lost in translation – there is a good dose of common sense involved and if it walks/quacks/looks….wellllll…..:p
Baily
Sep 15th, 2009
I tend to think he thought he saw an opportunity to trademark something someone else wanted to trademark and make a fast buck, therefore restricting her use of it and giving control to himself. A bit like buying a domain name of a big company before they do, then selling it for big buck.
Incidentially, what protection do LL provide for business names, if someone inadvertently choose the same business name as yours. Is it sort of trademarked within SL?
Ann Otoole
Sep 15th, 2009
Second Life abides by actual law and does not make law. If you trademark your name it is yours and you can issue cease and desist orders and LL must follow them. As recently happened with "OWK" (other World Kingdom) which might make for a juicier story IMHO because the action is real and has been going on for a while. OWKtm was placed for opposition today so the fight is on. You can read the saga here: http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=296...
As for the person with "broken english" the broken is a tad too good. Not to mention the fact there are instances of perfect English in there. So in this case since the mark is applied for it is currently tm and once the opposition phase is complete it should change to the R in a circle. So the Ozimals folks need to proceed accordingly with unrelenting brute legal force to defend their mark IMHO.
Kasen Kazan
Sep 17th, 2009
Agreeed! Who ever gets the trademark first wins! So many creators will pass up paying the $300 plus to trademark their name! So someone could trademark (example Xcite) then turn around and make LL stop
Xcite in SL rename all of their products.
~H~
Sep 15th, 2009
He's a douche. He was only kissing up to Candy via moo after the fact. Bleh.
Candy Cerveau
Sep 16th, 2009
I'd just like to clarify a few points, if I may. First, as you can see from our first exchange I was very polite to Mr. Schumann and even asked him to check back with me about a location in his sim after the launch. After not receiving the answer he wanted, he acquired our official logo without permission, placed it by itself in the About Land picture on his land and ticked the box for it to show in search that way.
The fact that he essentially stole our logo and used it without permission after our first conversation was very disturbing and I felt it deliberately misled people who might be searching for Ozimals to see just our logo in the photo for that land.
Let me be clear here – We are *thrilled* that people are excited about Ozimals and we absolutely welcome businesses, groups, and individuals to include our name in their classifieds and land if they are selling the bunnies or products for them. The SOLE reason I asked him to remove the name from the description part of the land was because the theft of our logo made me uncomfortable, and I don't think it was a rash or unreasonable reaction under the circumstances.
I cannot see how translation would have made any difference in our second conversation. I have gotten several opinions on the exchange and all of them said they also perceived several threats in the conversation. The fact that he accused me of lying on top of that seems to put the “bad translation” excuse to bed.
If it had ended there I would have been happy to let the entire situation die – however Mr. Schumann proceeded to go around to several locations around the grid and make disparaging remarks about me and how ~I~ made trouble for ~him~, which I find incredibly ironic. In the end, you cannot control what a person may say, but I believe my reputation and actions speak for themselves and will continue to do so.
Ann Otoole
Sep 16th, 2009
maybe program the rabbits to be unhappy and die without reproducing if rezzed in that guy's regions? That shoulf fix that.
Business-in-your-box
Sep 16th, 2009
the moral of the story is: don't do business in SL if you lack communication skills, and/or if you're a moron who harasses successful people in sl to make a fast buck.
its sad that there are people who are after a free ride in SL, those who want free traffic, free lindens. This Ben Schumann guy is not much more than a beggar… THATS RIGHT … A SL BEGGAR!
Isle
Sep 17th, 2009
Sounds to me like he did a land rush to capitalize on the upcoming animals to be created, and wants to be known for/have a monopoly for controlling having them being sold out of the named sims he bought.
No different from people grabbing up all new domain names related to new products online, so they can camp on them and make bucks either in tranferring names, or trying to host thier own watered down version, and profit by having the popular names associated.
I am usually level headed about these things, but it smells like fast-buck line dancing to me, and that is a bad smell.
Also… seems to me there was an intimation of a plan to use these sims for a knock-off, if Ozimals doesnt partner up.
I call 'opportunistic asshat' on this one.
This also has nothing to do with knocking someone's language skills, and kudos to moo and Candy for trying to get this clear.
Business-in-your-box
Sep 18th, 2009
good job Sherlock
Ozimals Beta Continues – Candy bites at… someone? « SL Bunnies
Sep 19th, 2009
[...] out of the loop, but I haven’t the faintest idea whats put a bee in her bonnet. Recently, A blog posted a story about the owner of some regions allegedly threatening to steal her trademark and [...]