Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won not tay ber own

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Law Firm of

Trademark attorney Kevin Bennett of Hemming, Polacyk, Cronin, Smith, Witthoff & Bennett in Plymouth, Michigan, is quoted in an article in the December 2, 2004 edition of The National Law Review. It appears that Lucas Nursery and Landscaping did not perform work to the satisfaction of Michelle Grosse. She decided to take her dissatisfaction to the internet by starting a web site characterized as a "gripe site". Lucas Nursery sued her for $100,000 damages, alleging that she had tried to hurt the company's business through the site. So what, you say? That's freedom of speech. Yes, it is. But Lucas Nursery and Landscaping hired a corporate lawyer (there's that dirty word again) to "zealously" represent them by fabricating some legal argument that would get them around the First Amendment and be able to collect his fat fee. Trademark attorney Kevin Bennett of Hemming, Polacyk, Cronin, Smith, Witthoff & Bennett in Plymouth, Michigan, pulled the 1999 Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act out of his ass and proceeded to "zealously" represent Lucas Nursery. He forgot one thing: to win a cybersquatting case, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant has a bad-faith intent to profit from that mark. Non-commercial gripe sites don't even come close to qualifying. In March of 2004, the Sixth Circuit Court Of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that the issue was a First Amendment case. Taking a typical posture of denial, Kevin Bennett attempted to defend his defenseless position: "This is not a free speech issue like a lot of attorneys are trying to say." and "Our position was that she can't use another person's service mark as a Web domain to air her grievances." We think you need to put your "position" back up your ass where it belongs. Your "position" was a loser from square one and stayed a loser. But your bank account certainly didn't lose, did it? Having put his foot in his mouth, Kevin Bennett proceeded to shove it in even further with the claim that while Michelle Grosse did not financially profit through her gripe site, she profited in another way: she gained satisfaction by airing her grievances, which in turn hurt the company. Whoa there, skippy. Are you as stupid as this comment makes you sound?

Kevin Bennett and Hemming, Polacyk, Cronin, Smith, Witthoff & Bennett have been added to these pages because of what we consider to be their unethical and illegal attitude in attacking people who have not been infringing. The First Amendment trumps yo-yos like you every time. Their web site is http://www.hpcswb.com/.