Insurance.com cease and desist

This is cool I used to have a vertical directory and just got a cease and desist from insurance.com, 2 things jump to mind, one there was no name on the email or telephone number, the return email address went to a non-specific domain not solicitors…

so is this a real C and D or someone trying to get links remove for insurance.com ??

_______________

Dear Sir/Madam

I am contacting you on behalf of Insurance.com, located in Cleveland, Ohio. We manage Insurance.com’s Internet monitoring function for brand identity issues on the Internet.

The following website ( removed ) uses the trademarked name of Insurance.com or one of its subsidiaries on its site.

As owner of the name, Insurance.com (and/or its subsidiaries) owns the exclusive right to reproduce and use its trademarks and authorize any reproduction and use. Insurance.com does not recognize the use of its name in the above-referenced site as authorized. Therefore, your use of this trademark is a violation of its rights.

Insurance.com demands that you cease and desist from using its name in any manner and that you remove all use of its trademark from the referenced website.

Please address these issues immediately. Please contact me with any questions.

Sincerely,

Trademark Administration
Insurance.com

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20 Comments | Leave a comment »

  1. 1. GerBot | March 10th 2008 @ 5:48 pm

    no telephone number = not real in my book.

    What lawyer have you ever met who does not want to be contacted for billable hours?

  2. 2. pittfall | March 10th 2008 @ 6:04 pm

    To quote (loosely) from a movie:
    I’m giving you a direct order from Section 8.
    Section 8 doesn’t exist.
    We don’t take orders from people who don’t exist.

    I think that this is bogus… it might be from a competing website that would like to see Insurance.com loose some links!

  3. 3. DaveN | March 10th 2008 @ 6:07 pm

    Yer, I agree totally pitfall and GerBot, looks like Competitor Disruption to me

    DaveN

  4. 4. Andreas Voniatis | March 10th 2008 @ 6:19 pm

    I guess competitors will try anything.

  5. 5. Don Draper | March 10th 2008 @ 6:44 pm

    Think of how many sites will just remove the link rather than deal with the hassle. It’s an anti-linking campaign!

  6. […] Dear Sir/Madam […]

  7. 7. Mikkel deMib Svendsen | March 10th 2008 @ 7:31 pm

    Itsa bloody brilliant anti-link building strategy to hit competitors with. Just brilliant! … Except, off course, when you hit webmasters like Dave that just don’t trust anyone or anything hehe :)

  8. 8. Mark | March 10th 2008 @ 8:39 pm

    If they are based in the US, then trying to enforce this would cost them a lot of time, effort and £££. I’d agree with the others - a very good way of getting rid of competitors.

    Its surprising how many people & companies assume that anything “legal” is 100% genuine and legal and comply straight away.

  9. 9. spostareduro | March 10th 2008 @ 9:52 pm

    First of all, whether it is real or bait, it is not a legal notification. So until Po Po is knocking, there would be no repercussions to face anywho…I think I’d either let it ride or, if you’re pressed about it, contact them the only way you know how and then eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. If they don’t shut you down by the end of the sandwich, then you’re probably going to blog another day.

  10. 10. Lars Bachmann | March 10th 2008 @ 11:09 pm

    Very creative way to do a anti-linkbuilding strategy :)

    But i must say, i think its a cheap way to remove competitors from sites and/or directories.

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  12. 12. David Eaves | March 11th 2008 @ 6:56 am

    That sort of thing is low and pathetic and I am guessing it will backfire on the company is doing it. You know what they say about karma.

  13. 13. Alex Upstream | March 11th 2008 @ 11:21 am

    Very creative piece of naughty SEO but I agree with David Eaves - this kind of thing comes back to you.

  14. 14. Boris Yeltsin's Zombie | March 11th 2008 @ 12:44 pm

    This is a great ploy. If I was doing it, I’d also put a telephone number on there and answer all the calls as well, to give it that air of legitimacy. Plus, I’d also set up a forwarding mail address and a genuine-looking web site.

  15. 15. Brandon | March 11th 2008 @ 3:04 pm

    Looks like a c&d from an automatic monitoring service. My fortune 50 company uses one and the c&d letters sent from it look very similar to that. But there should have been contact info on it. I would probably just ignore it. If they are serious, they will send a second.

  16. 16. Vinny | March 13th 2008 @ 3:36 am

    I think its pure brilliance. It would be interesting to see how many sites actually drop the listing once they receive the letter.

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  18. 18. Anthony a.k.a. OldSchool | March 14th 2008 @ 6:20 pm

    Dave, I don’t know about the UK, but in the US I don’t believe a C&D is considered delivered unless it is sent via certified mail and signed for as email is not 100% reliable.

    Not a lawyer, but a guy who’s paid lots of lawyers (and listened well).

    -OldSchool

  19. 19. Elizabeth Able | March 19th 2008 @ 5:24 pm

    Looks like spam to me, especially since it came in via email.

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