Shade's Landing, Inc. v. James C. Williams

Shade's Landing, Inc. brought this action against James E. Williams alleging trademark infringement in violation of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1125(a), and the Minnesota Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Minn. Stat. 325D.44. Plaintiff's allegations arose from defendant's use of an Internet web domain name that was similar to a domain name used by Shade's.

Shade's is a corporation engaged in the business of providing computer-based services related to the real estate industry. One of those services was an Internet site operated under the domain name www.Home-Market.com. This web site is targeted at home owners and offers a variety of referral services, including referrals to real estate agents, mortgage broker, landscaping services, insurance companies, home improvement services, and moving and relocation services. Plaintiff marketed its web site development services on a national scale.

Sometime in 1998 defendant began operating a business out of his home that provided web site development services fro real estate agents in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro areas. Defendant obtained www.home-market.net in connection with his business. The Home-Market.net web page itself contains little useful information.

Plaintiff asserted that by using a domain name similar to Home-Market.com, defendant created a likelihood of confusion about the source of the services and was attempting to misdirect plaintiff's clients.

The court denied plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction finding that injuries to the defendant from the issuance of an injunction would outweigh the risk of harm to plaintiff.

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For more information about this case, see: 76 F.Supp.2d 983 (D.Minn. 1999).

Reported by Kent Morlan