Busted

Left in my comments box
Re: Trademark Infringement
Domain name: destruction-for-dummies.co.uk

Dear Mr. xxxxx Lyle:

Wiley Publishing, Inc. (�Wiley�), owner of the famous and well-regarded (well regarded? don’t make me laugh!) FOR DUMMIES trademarks, recently became aware of your registration of the above-referenced domain name (well done, it’s only been registered for two years). You may be unaware that use of the phrase �For Dummies� or a similar formative of this phrase as a domain name infringes and dilutes our famous trademarks, and such use is not permitted under federal trademark laws. (so – that’s US laws then. What about UK law?)

In order to fully protect (go on, split another infinitive) its valuable trademarks, Wiley unfortunately cannot allow use of the domain name, destruction-for-dummies.co.uk, for a web site (so why didn’t you get the domain name yourselves?). Our initial review of this site indicates it is active and includes the For Dummies? trademark in the title of the page. Wiley requests that you discontinue using the domain name destruction-for-dummies.co.uk, and remove all references to FOR DUMMIES from your site.

While we prefer to resolve this matter informally (if it’s that informal, why did you send this to my comments box and do it in public rather than sending it by email?), Wiley is fully prepared to use all legal remedies available to protect our trademark rights and corporate assets (pay for my trip to the US and I’ll seeya in court).

Please contact me if you have any questions. (Oh, rest assured, I will. And I’ll publish it all here too) Wiley appreciates your cooperation with this matter.

Sincerely,

Kirk A. Bateman
Administrator, Brand Management & Contracts
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
(317) 572-3355
Email: kbateman@wiley.com

And yes, I do intend to leave the full name, address, phone number (it’s his direct line, folks) and email address here. They were left in the public domain. That’s where they’ll stay.