General > General Technical Chat

Fluke took down my Ebay listing for Trademark infringement

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EEVblog:

--- Quote from: MrMobodies on March 24, 2024, 05:34:02 am ---I wonder, is that anti-competitive behaviour from Fluke and Ebay?

--- End quote ---

Nothing to do with ebay, they simply provide a Trademark and rights registration system.
Amazon have something similar. I have for exampel registered EEVblog as a trademark with amazon, so in theory if anyone tries to use my name (e.eg fake products etc) I can have listings taken down.

Halcyon:

--- Quote from: EEVblog on March 24, 2024, 07:07:07 am ---
--- Quote from: RoGeorge on March 24, 2024, 07:06:17 am ---I vaguely remember something similar about fair advertising here, in EU, meaning you are not allow to "shame" other brands while advertising yours, no matter if your product is better or not.
The idea is to not elevate your product on the expense of other brands, or by "borrowing" fame from another brand.  Advertising by comparison (or by association), is not considered fair.

--- End quote ---

This is about trademark usage.

--- End quote ---

I guess this is why on cosmetics, shampoo, cleaning products etc... they usually say something like "x2 more effective than the leading brand". Ambiguous as fuck and means nothing to anyone, but means they can't be done for infringement and it makes their product sound good?

EEVblog:
I'm thinking "The included probes are fully compatible with the Fluke 179"  ;D

EPAIII:
The thing is, they probably have a front line company of lawyers on call, 24/7. And you probably have just one who works by the hour. Talk about bringing a knife to a gun fight. You would go broke trying to fight them.

Perhaps you could spell their name backwards, "ekulF" and tell your potential buyers that E-bay won't let you use it correctly so they need to read it backwards. Do the same thing with any other brands you want to mention. Be sure to properly capitalize the first letters of their names, which will be in the last position.

Might be a good sales gimmick. Getting the potential customers involved in a game to figure out the names.

PS: I don't know if it still works, but in the past I have been able to down-load and save E-bay ad text on my hard drive. That and some screen shots can be a big help if they shut you down again.

jpanhalt:
'fluke' is a trematode (worm) or accidental happening.

Just change your listing to "better than a blood sucking fluke."  Or, "Design matters.  It's no fluke our instrument is better than the competition."

You know Fluke Corporation will be checking carefully. Amazon and many others publish comparison charts, you know, "The 10 best multimeters..." Often, they will say trademarks used with permission, but Amazon doesn't bother.  Ebay says "fits or substitute for <brand>" all the time for automotive parts and such. 

You could push the issue and show a comparison chart, ask Fluke for permission to use its brand name, after that is refused, just call it brand X, then add a footnote that Fluke Corporation (with its address) refused permission to use its trademark. There is a difference in permissible use of a corporate name and trademark for a product.  Of course, the ultimate decision is up to eBay, and it can enforce any prohibition it wants (with limits) without regard to what the law actually allows.

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