Greenshift.ca is causing major headaches for the Liberals, in the form of a $8.5 million lawsuit.
Might I suggest the domain name of GreenIncentivePlan.ca instead, since it better captures what this policy professes to be about.
Unfortunately it will cost the Liberals $10.45 (our cost of registration) , since CAITI doesn’t make political donations.....just good suggestions.....in our minds at least:
Company seeks $8.5 million from Liberals for use of Green Shift name
53 minutes ago
OTTAWA — A Toronto firm is suing the federal Liberal party for more than $8 million and demanding it cease using the firm's name "Green Shift" for its carbon-tax plan.
Green Shift Inc. owner Jennifer Wright personally delivered a statement of claim at Liberal party headquarters today as she launched the lawsuit.
Wright told a news conference she was overwhelmed two weeks ago when a Liberal party official called to warn her it was using the term "Green Shift" for its plan to tax fossil fuels. She says the party ignored a later warning to drop the slogan.
"I suddenly just felt steamrolled," said Wright, who registered her company name in 2001 and first applied for a trademark in 2003.
The statement says Wright is seeking $8.5 million for "general and special damages" and a further $250,000 for aggravated and punitive damages.
The lawsuit seeks a court injunction to stop the party from using or displaying the words Green Shift, or any other trademark or Internet domain name that is similar to the logo used by Green Shift - which Wright says has its trademark approved, but not yet registered, with the federal government.
The Liberal party has so far ignored Wright's demands to stop using the firm's name, and a spokesman said following delivery of the legal notice, "we feel we've acted fully within the law."
Spokesman Dan Lauzon said the party simply used a common phrase in the environmental movement, and is not using the brand to sell any products or compete with Wright.
"It's the green shift," Lauzon told The Canadian Press.
"We're taking taxes out of one part of the economy and moving them to another part of the economy. Those words are used widely to describe bold environmental movements."
Wright acknowledged that at least one other company, Greenshift Corp., of the United States, also uses the phrase. She said she attempted legally to stop them but dropped her efforts because of the expense and location of the company.
Wright also has acknowledged the British government last year used the term Green Shift for the name of a task force investigation of carbon-dioxide emissions.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Hey Liberals, you can have this domain name for $10.45 instead of $8.5 mill.
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8 comments:
Here we go again---more money wasted.
As the lawsuits pile up , the campaign coffers go down & the Liberals cannot afford to waste a dime.
Change the name & let it go.
greenincentiveplan.ca does it for me.
Hell , I will even chip in the $10.45.
Dr Mike Popovich.
Here be a moronic and costly lawsuit on behalf of the company, especially since, as the article in Brent's post points out, the term "green shift" has been used by many others to indicate an environmental plan and is in no way in competition with the company in question itself.
In fact, the company should be paying the Liberals for all the advertising it's receiving due to the use of the term.
Again, only lawyers will be the benefactors.
Actually, a legal firm would make a great income trust.
Robert
Maybe the Flaherty et al Income Fund.
Has a nice ring to it.
Dr mike.
Mike:
Nice alliteration (Flaherty Fund), but that's one trust I'd avoid like the plague.
Just as I'll be avoiding the CONs during the next federal election.
They transmit diseases, don't you know.
Regards.
Not sure if you've been over at Red's place, but I made the suggestion that the acronym for Green Incentive Plan (GIP) could be used against the LPC as a homonym for the slang word 'gyp', implying a rip-off, swindle, or cheat.
I'd hate to see commercials with the line "Don't get GIPed by Dion"
Although, the word 'gyp' has a racist origin, and that may be enough incentive for the CPC to stay away from it.
On second thought, all they would need to do is release the commercials, and then claim they didn't know where the word came from and take them off the air. By then the damage would already be done.
By the way, I was suggesting that they use something like "Shift into Green" (like shifting gears), and the domain name www.shiftintogreen.ca is also available.
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