Marc Rasmussen, a Realtor in Sarasota, Fla., who in 2003 registered TheSarasotaMLS.com as a domain name for his real estate Web site, has filed the legal complaint in an effort to keep that Web address, which he says is important to his business.
The Sarasota Association of Realtors owns the SarasotaMLS.com Web site. Allegations of trademark infringement, trademark dilution and cybersquatting.”
The use of “MLS” and related terms has been a contentious one for Realtors, multiple listing services and Realtor trade associations — policies and guidelines set by some local associations and MLSs as well as the National Association of Realtors have led to other conflicts over business and Web site names.
In June, the Sarasota Association of Realtors filed a complaint with ICANN charging that Rasmussen’s thesarasotamls.com domain name “is identical or confusingly similar” to service marks in which the association has rights, which include “Sarasota MLS” and “Sarasota Multiple Listing Service,” among others, according to the public decision by the ICANN arbitration panel.
In its complaint, the association charged that Rasmussen was misleading the public with the “thesarasotamls.com” domain name and “is using the domain name in an effort to attract Internet users to his Web site for commercial gain by taking advantage of confusion” with the association’s service mark, the ICANN decision states.
Rasmussen had countered that the association had abandoned its use of the Sarasota MLS mark on its Web site and that he posted a disclaimer on his Web site stating that it “is not the actual Sarasota Multiple Listing Service.”
The decision also states that Rasmussen “violated a non-disclosure provision” of the National Association of Realtors in citing an ethics panel decision from the local Realtor association.
The National Association of Realtors in November approved a provision that gives Realtor-affiliated MLSs the option to enact a policy banning members’ use of the terms “MLS” and “Multiple Listing Service” from Web site URLs, company names, e-mail addresses and other marketing materials.
But Cherry, who leads the intellectual property and technology practice for the Abel Band Chartered law firm in Sarasota, said the association has received complaints about Rasmussen’s use of thesarasotamls.com site, though he did not know the exact number of complaints.
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There is a post on this issue over on Active Rain by the Sarasota Association of Realtors CEO.
http://activerain.com/blogsview/744440/TheSarasotaMLScom-Is-History-Maybe-Youre-Next
Here explanation:
“It is the use of MLS in conjunction with the geographic location that is the issue. That, and the fact that the domain name Marc has been using implies that it is “the” Sarasota MLS. It is clearly misleading to have a site with domain name “THEsarasotamls.com” when Mr. Rasmussen is not the Sarasota MLS. ” SAR CEO
I would be very suprised if any consumers actually complained about the domain. It was probably the competition. This lawsuit is probably costing the SAR thousands of dollars. It seems like a waste of the members money to me.
hello Cooee, thanks for your post. i also agree with John that, the possible reason may be competition.
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