I think we all know the Streisand effect, and to be honest I find it extra amusing that the effect is now named after this initial incident, making it doubly so.
I am kind of hoping that what we have now is another Streisand effect.
It seems Daikin have complained to Amazon that my Faikin boards breach their trademark for the word "DAIKIN". My product does not have DAIKIN on it.
FAIKIN is not DAIKIN, that is pretty simple. So waiting for a dispute to Amazon to be resolved, The call I had was encouraging as the agent from Amazon could not see "DAIKIN" on my product at all.
There is a logic for something close enough to be "confused with" a trademark, but the very "fake" aspect here would avoid that - no way anyone buying a Faikin will mistakenly think they are buying a Daikin product.
My view, not a lawyer, is that "Faikin" is "fake", much like "I can't believe it is not butter" is not "butter", like "Fake Daikin"...
If we do not get anywhere with Amazon, it will be marker pen over "Faikin" on the PCBs, and re-instating listing.
Suggestions welcome for new name "Fake Daikin", "Not Daikin", though I may go for "Daikout" or "Faikout". Yeh, Faikout is my favourite for now.
Update: So in essence Amazon are judge and jury here. Had we got a letter from Daikin we could have replied, discussed, maybe even compromised on something, ultimately even gone to court (not that we would go that far) - but because Amazon have just accepted their complaint, there is zero we can do. We have tried - we explained DAIKIN is not on the product, but they just say "we need more information" without saying what information they want (there is no more information). So it is now "Faikout" (trademark pending).
Update: Latest is they still insist on a letter authorising use, and totally missing the "IT IS NOT A BREACH OF TRADEMARK" aspect. So I did a letter saying: As author and designer of the "Faikin" PCB and software project, I hereby authorise Andrews & Arnold Ltd to produce and sell "Faikin" boards. For the avoidance of any doubt, such boards are to be marked "Faikin", and must not be marked "Daikin" as "Daikin" is a registered trademark. We would not want anyone confusing "Faikin" products for being "Daikin" products, hence the different word "Faikin" being used. Yours sincerely... We'll see if they appreciate the irony or not.
Update: They do say that if we can get the rights holder (Daikin) to send Amazon a retraction, that would sort it - but obviously we have no contact at Daikin, no idea who to contact, and Daikin have ZERO INCENTIVE to retract their claim, so why would they.
Nikiad
ReplyDeleteMaybe marker pen over the "aik", so it reads "f***in".
ReplyDeleteOf course, it could be a clever ploy by Daikin to increase exposure and boost sales...
ReplyDeleteFirst they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
ReplyDeleteI deliberately chose to spend a bit more money on Daikin (choosing them over LG) purely because the Faikin gave me easier control. They make more money because this thing exists.
ReplyDeleteIANAL! From what I read, trademark cases are hopeless - unless you are a large corporation, don't even think about it. Maybe you would win in a court. However, Daikin could make you spend a LOT of money on fighting it. For how much revenue for you?
ReplyDeleteAsk the guys here for help coming up with something clever and fun, but which does not directly reference Daikin trademarks in any way (in particular, move away from the sound of the word).
It can be a RevKin
ReplyDeleteOn the offchance you're being serious, a name containing the trademarked word is generally considered to be a blatant infringement; there have been cases where the "Not" part of "Not Famousbrand" was conveniently covered up by a sticker so as to generate confusion.
ReplyDeleteThe word "Faikin" does not "contain" the trademark word "Daikin" though, does it?
DeleteSure, but I was talking about the hypothetical fallback name of "Not Daikin".
DeleteAh, yes, maybe so.
Delete