L
legal.quest
Guest
- Jurisdiction
- US Federal Law
Hi.
I have a website that's basically a niche search engine. It indexes other websites and then lists the results. For example, say there is a company called "John Smith Shoes". My search engine looks at other websites and then list the prices of "John Smith Shoes" at those websites so people can easily comparison shop. I've received an email from "John Smith Shoes" claiming that I have used their Trademark without authorization and asking that I explain myself. I'm not in the shoe business and I'm only using their name in a search result that lists other sites. Like how any search engine would use the name of a company/product in it's search results. I don't think there is any consumer confusion that I could be mistaken for this company. Is this fair use?
The email itself seems like a form letter giving the impression that it's automatically generated by a bot that finds their Trademark on any website. How best should I address it?
thanks.
I have a website that's basically a niche search engine. It indexes other websites and then lists the results. For example, say there is a company called "John Smith Shoes". My search engine looks at other websites and then list the prices of "John Smith Shoes" at those websites so people can easily comparison shop. I've received an email from "John Smith Shoes" claiming that I have used their Trademark without authorization and asking that I explain myself. I'm not in the shoe business and I'm only using their name in a search result that lists other sites. Like how any search engine would use the name of a company/product in it's search results. I don't think there is any consumer confusion that I could be mistaken for this company. Is this fair use?
The email itself seems like a form letter giving the impression that it's automatically generated by a bot that finds their Trademark on any website. How best should I address it?
thanks.
