Where do we fit into this hugely confusing service mark mess, Obewon?
Here's GoToCom's press release announcing the suit:
BAM
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Press Releases: GOTO.COM FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST DISNEY'S GO NETWORK
Contact:
Al Duncan
GoTo.com
626-685-5714
al@goto.com
Deborah Roth
Connors Communications
212-807-7500
deborah@connors.com
PASADENA, Calif., February 18, 1999 © GoTo.com, www.goto.com, today announced it has taken legal steps to protect its trademark from consumer and industry confusion created by the logo of the new Go Network, an Internet service created by an alliance between The Walt Disney Company (Disney) and Infoseek Corporation (Infoseek).
GoTo.com has filed an action against Disney, Infoseek and related entities in the United States District Court in Los Angeles based on violation of the federal trademark statute and California law. GoTo.com requests that the court require Disney and Infoseek to discontinue use of the Go Network logo, because the striking similarity between GoTo.com's logo and the Go Network logo is likely to cause confusion (click to see logos).
"Although GoTo.com is a small company without the financial might of a company like Disney, we've invested millions of dollars and thousands of hours throughout the past year to get our trademark in front of consumers and to build brand awareness," said Jeffrey Brewer, president and CEO. "And we've been successful. With millions of unique visitors based on third party audience tracking, we have continuously been one of the 40 largest properties on the Internet since August 1998. Moreover, having built a strong client base of more than 5,000 advertisers who rely on the continued success of the brand, it goes without saying that we are committed to protecting the brand on behalf of these advertisers, many of whom are little guys like ourselves."
The complaint, filed today, requests that Disney and Infoseek discontinue use of the current Go Network logo. GoTo.com's logo comprises the design of a green circle on a yellow background with the words GO and TO appearing in white in the center of the circle. The Go Network's logo comprises a green circle on a yellow background with the word GO appearing in white in the center and the word NETWORK appearing below the design. Even the font of the lettering used by Disney and Infoseek is nearly identical to the font in GoTo.com's logo.
"The last thing we want to do is be involved in a legal battle with an 800 pound gorilla," said Brewer. "Since the launch of the Go Network, we have had several meaningful and sincere discussions with Disney and Infoseek in order to find a solution that mitigates the effect of consumer confusion and promotes our respective business objectives. Unfortunately, we have not been able to arrive at such a solution in an appropriate timeframe. The only course of action left to us at this point is to pursue legal recourse to protect the interests of our constituents © the consumers, advertisers, business partners and investors who rely on us."
About GoTo.com
GoTo.com, an idealab! company, is the new search engine that pioneered "Search made simple." One of the fastest growing Web sites on the Internet, GoTo.com is revolutionizing the way people search for products, services and information by empowering millions of web sites to compete for consumer attention in a fair and open marketplace. GoTo.com provides users with the fastest and easiest way to find the most relevant results for the widest variety of searches. The simple and uncluttered interface helps users find exactly what they are looking for in a very straightforward manner. Web sites bid for placement within search results using a free market auction process, and pay only for delivered traffic. GoTo.com's unique pay-per-click business model provides targeted traffic and visibility to Web sites that would not have the opportunity to promote themselves on a major search engine.
Founded in late 1997, GoTo.com leads all search engines in the key measures of search success and relevancy every time (source: NPD). Jeffrey Brewer, co-founder of CitySearch, was named president and CEO in February 1998, and Bob Kavner is chairman of the board. The company has more than 75 employees and is located in Pasadena, California. GoTo.com's investors include: Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Global Retail Partners, idealab!, idealab! Capital Partners, Integral Partners, Kline Hawkes & Co. and Moore Capital Management. GoTo.com can be found at www.goto.com.
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