Elliott C. Back: In Aere Aedificare

If you’ve ever wondered about online Trademark law and domain disputes, read The Taubman Co. Ltd. v. Webfeats & Henry Mishkoff. I’m currently on Act 109 of this court case which ranges from federal to appeals courts over hundreds of pages of documents. As the case builds momentum, the defendent goes from self-representation, to legal hints from a friend, to receiving “friend of the court” briefs from lawyers and associations, to receiving expert legal counsel and witnesses.

One Response to 'An Online Trademark Case in Detail'

1. Ronald J Riley said:

   on March 31st, 2005 at 3:51 pm

   The Inside Story

   For those who do not know me I founded the Professional Inventors Alliance
   http:www.PIAUSA.org in 1993, and in 1995 I became one of the key people
   driving the creation of the Alliance for American Innovation whose goal was
   to stop so called patent reform legislation and to create a voice for
   independent inventor interests in Washington, DC. In 1995 I started an
   organization to educate independent inventors www.InventorEd.org and
   incorporated it as a 501(c)3 non-profit in 1998. My passion is innovation
   and First Amendment issues.

   As background information it is important to mention that this is the same
   Taubman who was convicted in the Sotheby’s art auction house scandal.

   These is a bit more to this case. I was contacted by a journalist about
   Hank Mishkoff because of the role I played in defending Mrs. Tibbets as
   detailed on http:www.Skippy-SCAM.org. At this point Mr. Hank Mishkoff was
   defending himself and not fairing too well. Taubman had prevailed in
   getting an order shutting down the fan web site and Mr. Mishkoff had put up
   a sucks web site in response.

   The first thing I did was contact Mr. Krass at GIFFORD, KRASS, GROH,
   SPRINKLE, ANDERSON & CITKOWSKI of Birmingham, Michigan because I knew him as
   a result of his relationship with a personal friend and inventor named Mike
   Levine. I suggested to Mr. Krass that suing a fan was very poor judgment
   and that they should end this case. He did not respond well, and shortly
   after the contact an order was issued shutting down Mr. Mishkof’s sucks web
   site about Mr. Taubman.

   I was outraged by the court’s attack on the First Amendment and responded by
   creating http:www.Taubman-SUCKS.com, contacting Mr. Mishkoff and suggesting
   that he contact Paul Levy with the Public Citizen Litigation Group. Paul
   Levy had helped deal with threats of litigation by Edward B. Friedman
   http:www.InventorEd.org/caution/friedman/ (Invention Submission
   Corporation’s attorney http:www.InventorEd.org/caution/isc). I then called
   and wrote Paul Levy about the Mishkoff case, pleading that he should step
   into the case.

   Paul Levy took the case, and he kicked the **** out of Taubman. I have
   little doubt that if Paul Levy had not stepped into the case that the
   outcome would have been much different.

   Ronald J. Riley, Exec. Dir.
   1323 West Cook Road.
   Grand Blanc, MI 48439
   www.InventorEd.org
   Direct (810) 597-0195, Off (810) 936-4356

   Also President www.PIAUSA.org

   And former advisory board president of the Alliance for American Innovation
   1995-2002.

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