BayPal Inc. announced it is changing the name of its auction services site to inkFrog.com (http://www.inkfrog.com) as of April 1, 2002, due to pressure from eBay. BayPal settled with eBay after the company contacted BayPal and alleged that the BayPal.com name and trademark infringed upon the eBay trademark. This is the third company to change its name in recent weeks after being pressured by the online auction giant.
"If the test is whether the name BayPal is "likely'" to confuse customers, I did not see it," said BayPal president and CEO Mark Conover. However, he decided that renaming the site would be more productive than fighting a lawsuit. "We felt we could better use our resources to enhance our site rather than to fight eBay."
BayPal was launched in 1999 as an auction-image hosting site. It also offers auction selling tools, including auction ad template layouts, scheduling and auction management. Its sister site, AuctionPatrol.com, is an auction-buyers site featuring an auction site directory and global auction searching.
Last month, BrickBay.com changed its name to BrickLink.com after similar pressure by eBay. And earlier this month, BidBay changed its name to AuctionDiner after deciding not to fight a lawsuit filed by eBay for trademark infringement.
