In a concession, Major League Baseball Properties has agreed to settle with eBay seller Karen Dudnikov over a trademark dispute. Dudnikov uses licensed fabrics to make hand-crafted goods, which she sells on eBay. Dudnikov sued Major League Baseball Properties in April, three days after MLBP ordered eBay to terminate three of Dudnikov's auctions featuring items made from MLBP licensed fabrics. MLBP said the auction items infringed on its trademark, were derivative works and were confusing to buyers. Dudnikov disagreed with the legal argument, and said the disclaimers in her auctions make it clear that she is not affiliated with Major League Baseball.
According to a copy of the settlement Dudnikov posted on her Web site, both parties will dismiss their respective claims and counterclaims, and MLBP will ask eBay to remove any negative record as a result of the suspended Auctions. MLBP also agreed to refrain in the future from requesting that eBay take down Dudnikov's auctions. MLBP will pay an undisclosed amount to Dudnikov for her out-of-pocket expenses relating to the filing of the claim.
The two parties also agreed that they would not take action against the other without first notifying the other party of an apparent problem, and "the Parties will try to resolve the matter amicably between themselves prior to resorting to other remedies or avenues of resolution."
Major League Baseball Properties is the fifth billion-dollar company to take on Dudnikov and her husband, Michael Meadors over their eBay auctions. Dudnikov and Meadors have battled with lawyers from Warner Brothers, M&M/Mars, Precious Moments and Disney Enterprises.
Does Dudnikov think her legal battles with corporations are over? "Someone else will probably shut us down and we will go through the drill again," she said. Corporations can request eBay to cancel sellers' auctions if they participate in the auction site's VeRO program and believe the auctions infringe on their copyright or trademark rights. There are an estimated 5,000 participants in eBay's VeRO (Verified Rights Owner) program, including Disney Enterprises, Inc., Gucci America, Inc., Matt Groening and Shabby Chic.
"Next time," Dudnikov said, "we will point out that M&M/Mars, Disney and MLB all settled out of court in our favor. If they don't want to back down, we'll be back in federal court."
MLBP's Deputy General Counsel did not return a phone call requesting comment.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/vero-aboutme.html
http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/MLB/ourlawsuit/Settlement.html
