NAR is a Real Estate Cartel that STOMPS on Real Estate Consumers Rights With No Accountability
Dear Patrick Killelea: Did you have an opportunity to review the request I had made to you in October regarding your improper use of the term REALTOR®. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1785312249?bclid=1683773745&bctid=677609662001 Once again, I am requesting your confirmationn that you understand this matter and will remove our membership marks from your logo and website. We would appreciate your cooperation. —– Forwarded by Trademark/Chicago/National Association of Realtors on 11/23/2010 03:27 PM —– 10/07/2010 03:21 PM Subject: Improper Use of the REALTOR Marks – Patrick.net Dear Patrick Killelea As the trademark administrator in the legal affairs division of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, your website Patrick.net was brought to my attention by one of our Members for its use of the REALTOR marks in the logo you are using on this site as well as the content. I have attached a copy of the logo below. I wanted to make you aware that the terms REALTOR, REALTORS, and REALTOR-ASSOCIATE, as well as the REALTOR block “R” logo, are all federally registered collective membership marks owned by the National Association. To eliminate this potential source of conflict, we would appreciate your cooperation in revising this logo to eliminate the use of the membership marks. Many times this is as simple as substituting an appropriate job title for the term being used, for example, real estate broker or agent can often be used without making any other changes to the text. We are attempting to track our efforts in connection with the Internet and request that you acknowledge your understanding of this request for your cooperation and provide us with your estimate of when we can expect to see your site updated. Our e-mail address is trademark@Realtors.org. Mary Newill, Trademark Administrator Hi Mary, Let’s say I were criticizing McDonalds. Would I be forbidden to use the word “McDonalds”? How else would people know what I was talking about? Note that your reply will be publicized on my website. Patrick Killelea
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Here’s the email and my response. I will post everything about this here.
I am including a short video that we use to educate the staff on correct trademark use. This information can easily be applied to any trademark as it is important that they are not used generically if the trademark owner wants to retain their trademark.
As you can see by my correspondence the Association is concerned over the improper use of our Marks by nonmembers and we do write cease and desist letters to anyone we come across misusing this term.
Sincerely,
Mary Newill, Trademark Administrator
Legal Affairs Division
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Trademark/Chicago/National Association of Realtors
Collective membership marks are a type of trademark which, rather than indicating the source of a product or service, identify the user of the membership mark as a member of a particular group, in this case the National Association. Since this term is a membership mark, and not all real estate licensees are entitled to be identified as REALTORS, we respectfully request that this term never be used generically as a synonym for all real estate agents/brokers/salespersons.
If you would like to read more about trademarks and the rights of trademark owners, there are a number of sites on the Internet, which address this topic.
Thank you for your help and we look forward to receiving your reply.
Legal Affairs Department
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
430 N. Michigan
Chicago, IL 60611-4087
no, I definitely did not get any previous email from you. But more importantly, are you telling me that the first amendment does not protect my right to criticize the realtor cartel by name?comments on "Realtors attempt to deny patrick.net first ammendment protection"
More on Corruption and Fraud in the Real Estate Industry, Supported by and Lobbied for By The National Association of Realtor.
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Real Estate Whistleblower
Got a Gribe about Mary Newill
The Lanham Act permits a non-owner of a registered trademark to make “fair use” or “nominative use” of a trademark under certain circumstances without obtaining permission from the mark’s owner. The fair use and nominative use defenses are to help ensure that trademark owners do not prohibit the use of their marks when they are used for the purpose of description or identification. Fair use or nominative use may be recognized in those instances where a reader of a given work is clearly able to understand that the use of the trademark does not suggest sponsorship or association with the trademark owner’s product or services and therefore is not being used in a manner to confuse the reader.
. . .
An author’s use of a trademark for the above-referenced situations should be considered a non-confusing “nominative use” when it meets the following requirements: (1) the trademark owner’s product or service must be one that is not readily identifiable without the use of the trademark; (2) the author only uses as much of the trademark as is reasonably necessary to identify the trademark owner’s products or services; and (3) the author does nothing that would, in conjunction with the trademark, suggest to the reader sponsorship or endorsement by the trademark owner.
http://www.publaw.com/fairusetrade.html "
Time for a Class Action Lawsuit for Defamation, Harassment - against Mary Newill personally and the Real Estate Monopoly, Real Estate Cartel Known as The National Association of Realtors.