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Essy
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 11:32am | IP Logged
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I just got the following E-Mail today...
Hello!
I just noticed that you have named your site Simply Recipes. I too have a food blog, that has been in existence for 4 years named Simply Recipes. You might want to consider changing the name of your blog, as it will cause confusion with my site. Also, I have filed for a Trademark with the name Simply Recipes. Once this trademark has been granted, which it should be in a month or so, you will be violating the law by using the Simply Recipes name in this way.
Best,
Elise
SimplyRecipes.com
Anyone know anything about this? My blog is a very humble little blog where I simply store recipes that I like...most from other places in the web. I'm thinking of just going private...would that solve it?
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Macmom
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 12:15pm | IP Logged
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Don't sweat it till the trademark is granted. Even then, since you had the name BEFORE the trademark was awarded to her, I'm not sure how much power she has to force you to change a pre-exisiting blog name.
Know a trademark attorney you can talk to? Look up info on line as well.
I wouldn't answer the email back unless she can prove her trademark forces you, with a pre-existing name, to change the name of your blog.
Peace,
Macmom
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Michaela
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 12:59pm | IP Logged
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Essy, my little one just woke up. I pray someone can give you an answer. I know of several blogs with the same NAME, but not the same domain name.
I did a quick search and there are trademark attorney blogs with info on this. They also have videos to listen to about this.
I got to go...Teresa is up. I'm sorry I'm no help.
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Michaela
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stefoodie
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 1:48pm | IP Logged
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the thing with blogs is that when you've got a lot of traffic you kinda develop the notion that EVERYONE knows (or should know) about you. Elise *is* well-known in the food blog world as the creator of Simply Recipes. that said, i don't know why she or anyone should make a big deal out of your blog; it's not like you're pretending to be Elise or copying her recipes, etc. but then again i don't know all that much about trademarks, etc.
here's my NON-EXPERT understanding of how things work: *if* she wanted to file a lawsuit against you, she will have to prove that your use of the name "simply recipes" is damaging to her reputation or to her income or her potential income. since she probably can't prove that....
please take this with a huge grain of salt; i'm only saying this based on what a few of other food bloggers have gone through/done. the laws about this are still being written so i don't think you're in trouble.
you could go private, you could change your name, the whole phrase or just a wee bit to satisfy elise, etc. just a word of caution though -- i've seen situations where food bloggers have banded together against a person or a company and been really nasty. though i personally don't think you've done anything wrong here, if it had happened to me i probably would just go ahead and change my name or go private, just because it's so much less stress than having to deal with some people who might go crazy with it.
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Jane Ramsey
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 1:52pm | IP Logged
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You could just change the spelling a bit:
"simpli recipes" or something like that. I would change it somehow to avoid any hassles.
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Essy
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 2:22pm | IP Logged
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stefoodie wrote:
| the thing with blogs is that when you've got a lot of traffic you kinda develop the notion that EVERYONE knows (or should know) about you. Elise *is* well-known in the food blog world as the creator of Simply Recipes. |
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Ooops...here's where it shows how low on the scale I am with all of this...I have no idea who she is. I'm actually shocked that anyone other then family actually reads my blog. The name was originally 'Simply SCD Recipes'...however since I am no longer doing the SCD diet, I decided to just drop the SCD bit without even looking into who else had it. Maybe I should just go ahead and change it to 'Simply THE BEST Recipes'...LOL...hmmm...but maybe I'll have to do a search first to make sure that no one else has it.
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nicole-amdg
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 5:30pm | IP Logged
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It is entirely likely that she went looking for your site or similar sites. Trademark holders have to aggressively protect their intellectual property rights--no one is going to do it for them. That said, her claim may lack the necessary characteristics for forcing you not to use it, if only because you are already using the phrase before registration. It may be too generic. But if she is granted the registration, you might be vulnerable. You could read Wikipedia's article or search the Web about the subject.
One satisfactory way around the confusion issue might be to add a little disclaimer to the top or title of your page, saying you're not the Simply Recipes of Elise Whatshername and providing a link to her site for people looking for her.
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