Palo Alto-based Facebook, which was founded in 2004 and has more than 500 million users, filed its trademark infringement lawsuit in U. S. District Court in San Jose last week,asserting that the "book" part of its name is "highly distinctive in the context of online communities and networking websites".
"If others could freely use ' generic plus book' marks for online networking services targeted to that particular generic category of individuals, the suffix ' book' could become a generic term for ' online community/networking services ".
"As companies mature, it becomes common that they start bringing trademark enforcement actions against people with names that bug them. "
Facebook believes that Teachbook is unfairly riding on its coattails by using the suffix "book" to reference the larger site' s established reputation.
"Effectively they' re bombing a mosquito here, and we' re not sure why they want to do that. " Teachbook said.
2. A Delaware Chancery Court judge has ruled in favor of eBay in a shareholder suit against Craigslist and its majority shareholders .
In 2004, eBay paid $32 million for a 28.4 percent interest in San Francisco-based Craigslist, with founder Newmark and CEO Buckmaster getting $8 million each. But relations broke down after eBay launched a rival classifieds business in 2007.
In January 2008, controlling stakeholders Newmark and Buckmaster adopted a rights plan that diluted eBay' s stake in the company, and a legal battle quickly ensued.
eBay and Craigslist both filed lawsuits against each other, with eBay claiming Craigslist had tried to unfairly dilute its stake, and Craigslist alleging that eBay had used it to develop its own competing classified service.
"We are very pleased that the court gave eBay what it sought from the lawsuit," eBay General Counsel said in a press release. "eBay brought this suit to protect its own shareholders and preserve its valuable investment in Craigslist. "
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