Sew Fast/Sew Nasty

"Can't we all just get along???

The buzz from back home: Posted on the now titled SnB-NYC [formerly Stitch'n'Bitch-NYC] chat group by Deb Stoller of Stitch'n'Bitchfame...

"I received a notice from Yahoo tonight advising me that I must delete the wording STITCH N BITCH from our Yahoo!Group URL and any references to STITCH N BITCH in the group itself or they will disable our group within 48 hours.
This notice is a result of an objection filed by Sew Fast Sew Easy Inc., a
New York company, who is claiming rights to this wording.

I have spoken to my attorneys about this. Unfortunately, there is no
immediate recourse with Yahoo other than to make the change at this time.
They require this as soon as anybody makes any kind of claim--they don't
evaluate the merits of the claim. So to keep the group list alive, I've just
changed the name to snb-nyc. When you want to send an email to the group,
just send it to snb-nyc@yahoogroups.com. Everything else stays the same, and
hell, it's easier to type, too!

Knit on!

Xxxooo deb"

In a follow up email posted today...

Subject: A concerned Stitch-n-bitch'er
To: info@sewfastseweasy.com

Hello Sew Fast, Sew Easy,

I'm a proud member of Stitch-n-bitch DC which was recently contacted
by Yahoo! regarding a complaint lodged by your company for trademark
infringement. I have read extensive online discussions and
conversations within our own yahoo! group about this issue.

My understanding is that your company ONLY has rights over names with
either 'and' or '&' in the middle. According to the US Patent and
Trademark Office website, Debbie Stoller owns the Stitch 'n Bitch
name. I've attached a picture of the most current available
information on that website which shows several trademarks for
variations of the "stitch" and "bitch" phrase. The only trademarks
that Sew Fast, Sew Easy owns are record numbers 78641350 ("Stitch and
Bitch"), and 76026522 ("STITCH & BITCH CAFE").

Therefore, I cannot understand why any yahoo! groups that use the
letter 'N' instead of the word "and" or the symbol '&' could possibly
violate your company's trademark. Our yahoo! group has now had to
change its name to "SnB DC" to comply with Yahoo!'s policy. I
personally only know of 5 other groups that had to change their
names, but I've heard there are dozens more.

I'm sure you are aware that many stitch-n-bitchers across the country
are furious about this development and are blacklisting your company.
I don't support reactionary, uninformed decisions and I recognize
your company's need to protect it's intellectual property. However,
this particular situation seems to be an obvious error as your
company does not have a trademark on the phrases that use the
letter 'n'. I should also add that the popular way to refer to your
company by stitch-n-bitchers (I can't speak for stitch-and-bitchers
because their name DOES seem to be a trademark violation) is "Sew
Fast, Sew Evil."

I would very much appreciate your response to this issue.

Thanks very much,

~Bethany



"Say no to SFSE"

This has even spawned a Say No to SFSE Cafe Press store (click above) with Tshirts, buttons, bumper stickers and home goods...
...the proceeds were originally to go for a lawyer - but since Deb Stoller is on it - they money will be offered to her for lawyer fees. If she refuses the money, the proceeds will be sent to the National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc.

I just don't understand...are the gaggles of S'n'Bers around the world so bad that they wouldn't want to be associated with them? It just seems -- stupid - and mean. Now Deb Stoller has to spend money on lawyers to show she's in the right.
Who ever was the moderator of the 'StitchnBitch-Harlem' group -- well they didn't get the message about needing to change the group name in time and it was wiped out by Yahoo!...it's no longer in my list of "Yahoo! Groups"... I know some of the members were only signed on to that one... Such a shame to loose the entire list!
Time will tell how it all turns out...