Stop unauthorized trademark bidding!   June 2008  
                   
   

       Get email alerts that contain the bids on your valuable trademark.

    
   

 

  
      Our automatic trademark bid monitoring service will help you keep others from bidding on your trademark. Our email alerts contain a record of the ads, links, date and time the ad(s) appeared. We can even help you track down the source and stop bids on your trademark.      
                 
                 
       

     

                                                     
                 
                 
        How do I track down who is bidding on my trademark?      
                 
          1. Click on the ad. Most of the time the landing page will show you who is bidding.    
          2. Use the contact us section on their site to find the appropriate department to locate either an email address or a contact form.    
          3. If the contact information is not found, try looking for an email address via a whois look service.    
          4. If the ad is redirecting to your own site or landing pages (affiliate program), you can right click on the ad, click on properties, double click the URL, copy / paste the URL into notepad or an email to see the full URL. Within this URL, you can usually find a PID or other affiliate identification number. You can then report this number to your affiliate manager or affiliate network to find out who is bidding on your brand.    
             

 

  
        How do I get them to remove their bids on my trademark?      
                 
          Competitors      
                 
         

1. Send an email to request that they stop bidding on your trademark. Have your legal department

    draft the text for this message.

      
         

2. If they persist, have your legal department send them a cease and desist letter mentioning the

    legal action that could be taken.

      
          3. Send another cease and desist letter, with stronger language with a deadline.e.      
          4. Pursue legal action in court.      
                 
          Affiliates      
                 
          1. Make sure you have a clear trademark bidding policy. Your PPC bid policy might be:      
               a. Bidding on your trademark is allowed, but their ad must be lower than your ad.      
               b. Trademark bidding on Google is prohibited, but it is ok on Yahoo and MSN.      
               c. Strict no trademark bidding policy in any way shape or form.      
         

     d. Make sure your trademark policy is documented in every email, newsletter, program

         description and on your website's affiliate information page.

      
         

2. Identify the affiliate who is bidding, then send them a warning email, or reverse their

    commissions based on what your bidding policy states.

      
                 
          Both      
                 
          Google - Fill out the trademark complain form at: http://services.google.com/inquiry/aw_tmcomplaint      
                 
         

Yahoo - Send a message to the email address with the list of required information to

            http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/legal/trademarks.php

      
                 
                 
                 
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   www.trademarkbidwatch.com

  
                 
    Useful Links Related Terms          
                 
    United States Patent and Trademark Office trademark bidders    
    Report Trademark Bidding to Google Adwords bidding on trademarks    
    Report Trademark Bidding to Yahoo Search