Amazon is after us!
April 21, 2009
It’s time to face the truth (and give you, dear Reader, some insight) – Amazee is under attack. Yes, your favorite social collaboration website is being cornered, and by no less than international media giant Amazon. Some of you reading this might already have figured out why: They don’t like our name. It’s too close to theirs, they say (or rather, their lawyers, because a big corporation like this doesn’t need to speak – it has lawyers to speak for it). Amazee resembles Amazon, and therefore they want to take away our cute name, which we (and you, hopefully) have come to like so much.
So far, this affects the Swiss and US market. If they succeed, we will not be allowed to use the brand name Amazee any more and we’ll have to find a new one! Isn’t that horrible? And we thought, they were just selling books. But, we decided, we are not gonna take it! We want you to raise your voice for us: Spread the story with your Twitter followers, your friends, your family and everybody who has ears and eyes. Show your support in this blog, or in the accompanying project, in which we will keep you updated on everything. Next time you need a book, go and pay a visit to your local bookstore. They’ll be happy to see you! And if you drive by their HQ in Seattle, roll the window down and boo as loud as you can!
But seriously: This is very annoying for us. We are small, they are big. If it wasn’t so grave an issue, it could be funny. And the best thing: We see no danger of confusion. Our name comes from the word "amazing", theirs from the mighty Amazon river. We have no intention of selling you books, CDs or whatever Amazon has in stock. We are handing you over the key to making this world a better place. Our respective companys’ logos are very much different! And, last, not least: We are by far not as well-known as Amazon, so how on Earth could anyone mistake us for them? And in the very unlikely event this should ever happen, we will still not sell them books.
14 Responses to “Amazon is after us!”
Wow. I hope nobody out there has had the crazy idea of using words like amaze, amazing, amazement or any other derivative of words that begin with amaz!!
Another case of big global corporation loses touch with reality and gets the impression that they have the exclusive right to claim ownership of everyday words and others that may just perhaps have a slight similarity to their name.
In fact, how is it that Amazon could use the name of a river that’s been around for such a long time without offending somebody’s trademark laws….
I’m off to trademark the terms Thames, Limmat, Rhein, Mosel and a few others quickly! Maybe I can make a few dollars here and there later on….
Nonsense.
Good luck Amazee!
Robert
Oh Jeez, this sucks! I wish this was a delayed April’s fool’s joke. Amazee rocks! And you have a great name! Best of luck getting through this rocky road. Hit me on Twitter if I can help!
Viel Erfolg, Kraft und Ausdauer bei dem Kampf!
Gruss
Malte
ps: Vielleicht solltet ihr euch eine Steinschleuder zulegen …
Danke, danke! Die Steinschleuder bleibt erstmal drinnen, wir sind ja die friedlichen Davids.
Rock’n'Roll is 1% hard work and 99% hormones.
Warum steckt Ihr nicht Eure ganze Kraft in den Aufbau des Projektes, verschwendet stattdessen Zeit und evtl. viel Geld für eine Nichtigkeit?
@Robert: Lol, thanks for the wishes and good luck with the trademarking! Don’t forget the Nile and the Ganges!
@Bankerin: Danke für die Nachfrage! Wir stecken ca. 110% in die Entwicklung von Amazee, den Rest investieren wir in diese Nichtigkeit …
@Joe Thanks for the support, feel free to tweet about this!
Amazing! It’s hard to understand what’s going through their minds. Best of luck with this and rooting for an Amazee Victory!!!
Ich finde es eine absolute Frechheit von Amazon, aber was soll man da machen, zum einen klingt es wirklich wie Amazon. Dennoch gewinnt Amazon daran 2 x wenn Amazee wirklich gelöscht wird. Werbung ist dabei ein gewaltiger Faktor.
hmm schwere Entscheidung, habt ihr zuvor keine Marken Ähnlichkeitsanalyse bei einem Markenanwalt gemacht.
Ob das wirklich positive Werbung für Amazon.com ist, kann ich nicht bestätigen. Zum Vergleich schaut euch einfach mal die Abmahnung der Bahn gegen netzpolitik.org an, das ging ziemlich in die Hose.
Amazee kling leider sehr ähnlich wie Amazon, von markenrechtlicher Seite wird das für euch kein Zuckerschlecken werden, leider.
Ein ähnliches Verfahren gab es damals bei underbay, die wurden von ebay abgemahnt, und mussten Ihren Namen auf undertool ändern.
Ich wünsch euch viel Glück.
@David, thanks for your support!
@manuel, vielen Dank für deinen Beitrag. Ja, Ähnlichkeitsanalysen haben wir gemacht. Aber du wirst in einem globalen Markt mit jeder beliebigenn Marke wieder auf ähnliche Marken stossen; in den USA gibt es über 400 Marken, die mit AMAZ anfangen… auf der anderen Seite wird der Markenentscheid häufig über die Verfügbarkeit von .com domains gesteuert. Ja es ist ein weites und teures Feld, das Geschäft mit der Unternehmensidentität
Grüsse!
Amazon, this is a joke. Walk away!!
Entering a search for Amazee on major search engines does not bring up reference to Amazon or vice versa. Maybe the machines are smarter than Amazon management/lawyers. It’s time Amazon wakes up and stops giving its customers reason to stop buying their product. Nobody liks Bullies!