On April 24, 2006, the Newsome Law Firm and the public interest group Public Citizen filed suit against printer manufacturer Dymo Corp. on behalf of Rene. F. Mohl of Ponce Inlet, Florida. The lawsuit stated that by forcing Mohl to remove his auctions from eBay, Dymo Corp. violated his First Amendment rights and should be held liable for lost sales. The suit also alleged that Dymo Corp. should also be prevented from interfering with future sales.
Rene Mohl owns a shop on eBay where he sells print labels that he advertises as being compatible with Dymo printers. Claiming that this was an infringement of its trademarks and intellectual property rights, Dymo Corp. complained to eBay resulting in eBay’s cancellation of Mohl’s auctions. Threatened with legal action from Dymo, Mohl had no recourse other than to remove all references to Dymo from his ads resulting in a major loss in sales.
However, after the suit was filed by the Newsome Law Firm and Public Citizen, on July 17, 2006 Dymo agreed to settle the suit and agreed that it would no longer interfere with sellers rights to inform consumers that they sell labels compatible with printers made by Dymo Corp. Dymo Corp. also stated that it has taken steps to insure that it will not interfere with similar sales in the future and agreed to compensate Mohl for lost sales which were caused by their having shut down Mohl’s site.
It has become commonplace for printer companies to use trademark law to force small eBay sellers to stop selling their competing products. These small eBay sellers rarely have the resources to fight big corporations and as such, must comply or face prosecution. This settlement by Dymo Corp. has set a positive example for other companies to follow and could provide a foundation for a better coexistence with internet sellers.
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