Bogbaits Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 I recieved this email today ............Mr Franklin, I am the President of Black Mamba Fishing Systems up in Ontario Canada. We own the trademark for the name Black Mamba both in Canada and the US. It would appear that you are using the name Black Mamba in promoting your 16 inch 'snake'. As that contravenes the trademark laws, I am requesting that you cease and desist using our trademark immediately, to avoid legal action. Regards, Dave Wraxall President, Black Mamba Fishing Systems My question is can he have a trademark for the name of a snake that lives in the wild and stop me from having my snake named black mamba???We named our snake lure after the snake the black mamba,not his company???any one have any angles on this would be much help,john Bogbaits,this is also not from an attorney but from the owner of this company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdL Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 First of all I am not a lawyer so what I say and think ain't worth nothing in court action. Yeah there is a Black Mamba Fishing System company and a web site. He has some baits that didn't look like a snake and uses the Black Mamba name in each of the lure names. So he may have a point. But its kind of lame I think. Just how many company's use Eagle in their name. Do they send C&D letters to everyone who uses the name Eagle in their name. And his baits are more like soft stick baits he calls willy's (slick, ribbed, wild, and atomic wedgie). If you want to avoid any hassle why not change your lure name to something like "The Mamba Snake - like the black mamba". You offer several colors besides black. If he comes up with a snake lure and calls it The Black Mamba send him a C&D letteras you already have one and stick to playing with his willy. I think its where if a company does not do anything about Registered trademarks or Copyrights then they have no grounds of legal action in case they loose alot of money. This way if they send out C&D letters they may have a claim. But its all about the money after all. So if he can affort to hire lawyers and pay them to go after someone then it's probably his right. Will he actually take legal action? Who knows. Sending a letter is cheap. Getting lawyers involved well thats a whole another story. I never heard of Black Mamba Fishing Systems. Now I have. (and don't intend to buy any of his stuff even if it is the best fish catchin system every.) Bullies don't win in my fishing world. If he would have tried to man up and just communicated that he already is using Black Mamba and would you use another name then that would be one thing. But hollering lawyer lawyer lawsuit is lame. Just my 2 cents. I feel better venting. Hope you do too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 My guess is he can do just exactly what he said. My former boss had to change his business name because it was already registered to another company in another state and it was his real name to boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogbaits Posted June 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 My guess is he can do just exactly what he said. My former boss had to change his business name because it was already registered to another company in another state and it was his real name to boot. I did a trademark search and it shows his trade mark expired on 12-23 2006,at the us trademark office on the web,I also told him to send me a copy of the trademark and a cease and desist from his attorney,john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdL Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 John -sounds like you did the right thing and checked things out before naming your bait. Something similiar happened to a custom rod builder. Some lady got in face about naming or trademarks. Turns out her trademake expired a long time ago. Long story short she got so much bad reputationon htat forum that whatever she was trying to sell, there were a lot of guys who would not buy anything from her. So all she ended up accomplishing is getting a bad reputation and loss of potential sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogbaits Posted June 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 John -sounds like you did the right thing and checked things out before naming your bait. Something similiar happened to a custom rod builder. Some lady got in face about naming or trademarks. Turns out her trademake expired a long time ago. Long story short she got so much bad reputationon htat forum that whatever she was trying to sell, there were a lot of guys who would not buy anything from her. So all she ended up accomplishing is getting a bad reputation and loss of potential sales. I also sent him an email stating I went to the site and found out it was expired,so we will wait and see what happens next,will keep you posted,may get interesting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toadfrog Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 Voice of experience here . Depending on the type of individual this person may or may not be it could cost you . If he just likes to fight in words or deed and is loaded with cash he might just take you to court knowing full well he would lose . But with the hope it puts you under . If it did Then he wins because it would be possible to reclaim the patent . Sort of two strikes for one . Just food for thought . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogbaits Posted June 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 Voice of experience here . Depending on the type of individual this person may or may not be it could cost you . If he just likes to fight in words or deed and is loaded with cash he might just take you to court knowing full well he would lose . But with the hope it puts you under . If it did Then he wins because it would be possible to reclaim the patent . Sort of two strikes for one . Just food for thought . Its not costing me anything,I would change the name of the bait if he can show me he has a trademark on the name black mamba and That I cant name my bait black mambe because his buisines is named black mamba,I do believe i need to see a letter from his attorney and not an email from him telling me such,just my thoughts,anyone else have an inside on this,thanx for the replies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitbull Baits Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 (edited) You may want to take all this to a lawyer to look at. It kind of sounds like what some other company's are getting sued for. They were trying to scare people using patents that were out of date. Its basicly strong arm tatics. You might have a case aginst them insted of a case aginst you. Thats if the trade mark is out of date. So I would let a lawyer check into it. Print out all the emails you sent and the ones they sent to you to show the lawyer. Edited June 3, 2011 by Pitbull Baits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzyGrub Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 Can't he just renew the trademarks? I think you could even pick them up. If they were not expired, I think it would be a clear cut case. I wouldn't jump to say he is trying to bully you or squeeze money out of you. He has built a bait business around the name, and probably feels you are impeding on him. Given the website, I'd say he is another small time guy trying to make a go of it. Even though he let the name expire, he spent some good money to register it in the 1st place. He probably saw or one of his customers saw and contacted him on that recent article on your baits. Also consider, if your baits took off significantly from that recent article, without you owning the trademark, someone else can start using it and just confuse your customer base and future customers. PS: Given he is small shop, probably checks in here once in a while, and all your cards are showing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
