thedrifter
12-01-07, 08:32 AM
Nonprofit sues over Wounded Warriors name
By Timberly Ross - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Nov 30, 2007 22:53:23 EST
OMAHA, Neb. — An Omaha-based charity sued for copyright infringement said in court papers that it was the first to use the Wounded Warriors name and is the “common law owner” of its moniker.
The nonprofit is asking a U.S. district court judge to order the similarly named Wounded Warriors Project — the philanthropic group that brought the original lawsuit — from further use of its name.
“I will not be bullied,” Wounded Warriors founder John Folsom, a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, said Friday. “I’m not going to let those guys shut us down.”
A lawsuit filed in September in U.S. District Court in Nebraska by Jacksonville, Fla.-based Wounded Warrior Project Inc. said Wounded Warriors Inc. has “capitalized on the confusion” created by their similar names.
Wounded Warrior Project, which also goes by WWP Inc., registered trademarks on its name and logo in September 2005, which prevents their use by other groups.
In a response filed Nov. 16 by Wounded Warriors, the nonprofit said WWP’s “alleged trademarks are invalid and unenforceable.”
WWP’s “use of such a similar name for its similar activities demonstrates an intentional, willful and malicious disregard of [Wounded Warriors’] rights, all to the great and irreparable injury of [Wounded Warriors],” the court documents state.
Steve Nardizzi, WWP’s deputy executive director, said Friday that the charity remained confident in its lawsuit, but would not speak further about pending litigation.
According to court documents, WWP was founded in July 2003 to raise money to help injured soldiers. Its activities include making and distributing backpacks filled with clothing, toiletries and luxury items such as playing cards and CD players.
Wounded Warriors, which Folsom has said began in March 2003 to raise money to buy a TV for injured U.S. soldiers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, evolved to offer vacations to injured veterans and their families. The organization owns condos in Orlando, Fla., and Galveston, Texas, and has bought land in Crawford, Neb., to build a retreat.
Both groups are registered as nonprofit organizations.
WWP took in more than $10 million in donations in its fiscal year 2005, which ended July 31, 2006, according to tax statements. Filings by Wounded Warriors showed that it took in about $400,000 in donations in 2006.
Both groups have asked for a jury trial.
WWP is seeking more than $75,000 in damages for copyright infringement. Wounded Warriors wants the return of more than $40,000 in donations intended for its group that it says were mistakenly sent to WWP.
Nardizzi said Friday that WWP has returned one $100 donation to Wounded Warriors and has not seen any evidence that it had received other misdirected funds.
WWP has also asked for an injunction stopping Wounded Warriors from using its name and likeness, which would shut down Wounded Warriors’ Web site. A hearing on that motion has not been scheduled.
Folsom said Friday that he would rather continue to help wounded soldiers and their families than be tied up in a legal battle.
“We’ll drop everything if they go away,” he said.
Ellie
By Timberly Ross - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Nov 30, 2007 22:53:23 EST
OMAHA, Neb. — An Omaha-based charity sued for copyright infringement said in court papers that it was the first to use the Wounded Warriors name and is the “common law owner” of its moniker.
The nonprofit is asking a U.S. district court judge to order the similarly named Wounded Warriors Project — the philanthropic group that brought the original lawsuit — from further use of its name.
“I will not be bullied,” Wounded Warriors founder John Folsom, a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, said Friday. “I’m not going to let those guys shut us down.”
A lawsuit filed in September in U.S. District Court in Nebraska by Jacksonville, Fla.-based Wounded Warrior Project Inc. said Wounded Warriors Inc. has “capitalized on the confusion” created by their similar names.
Wounded Warrior Project, which also goes by WWP Inc., registered trademarks on its name and logo in September 2005, which prevents their use by other groups.
In a response filed Nov. 16 by Wounded Warriors, the nonprofit said WWP’s “alleged trademarks are invalid and unenforceable.”
WWP’s “use of such a similar name for its similar activities demonstrates an intentional, willful and malicious disregard of [Wounded Warriors’] rights, all to the great and irreparable injury of [Wounded Warriors],” the court documents state.
Steve Nardizzi, WWP’s deputy executive director, said Friday that the charity remained confident in its lawsuit, but would not speak further about pending litigation.
According to court documents, WWP was founded in July 2003 to raise money to help injured soldiers. Its activities include making and distributing backpacks filled with clothing, toiletries and luxury items such as playing cards and CD players.
Wounded Warriors, which Folsom has said began in March 2003 to raise money to buy a TV for injured U.S. soldiers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, evolved to offer vacations to injured veterans and their families. The organization owns condos in Orlando, Fla., and Galveston, Texas, and has bought land in Crawford, Neb., to build a retreat.
Both groups are registered as nonprofit organizations.
WWP took in more than $10 million in donations in its fiscal year 2005, which ended July 31, 2006, according to tax statements. Filings by Wounded Warriors showed that it took in about $400,000 in donations in 2006.
Both groups have asked for a jury trial.
WWP is seeking more than $75,000 in damages for copyright infringement. Wounded Warriors wants the return of more than $40,000 in donations intended for its group that it says were mistakenly sent to WWP.
Nardizzi said Friday that WWP has returned one $100 donation to Wounded Warriors and has not seen any evidence that it had received other misdirected funds.
WWP has also asked for an injunction stopping Wounded Warriors from using its name and likeness, which would shut down Wounded Warriors’ Web site. A hearing on that motion has not been scheduled.
Folsom said Friday that he would rather continue to help wounded soldiers and their families than be tied up in a legal battle.
“We’ll drop everything if they go away,” he said.
Ellie