Two eBay sellers, an accountant and a computer programmer, continue to fight corporate participants in eBay's VeRO program, announcing they filed suit against Shabby Chic Inc. in October.

The suit centers around eBay's Verified Rights Owners (VeRO) program in which IP rights-holders can request eBay to cancel auctions for auctions that violate their copyright and trademark.

Karen Dudnikov and Michael Meadors sell handmade items on eBay using copyrighted fabric. They use the eBay ID Tabberone, and also sell the items on their Web site. The husband and wife have already tangled with Major League Baseball, Warner Brothers, M&M/Mars, Precious Moments and Disney Enterprises. Each of these large corporations used eBay's VeRO program to request eBay remove Tabberone's auctions, claiming they violated their Intellectual Property rights.

Michael Meadors said on October 20, 2003, Shabby Chic instructed eBay to terminate a Tabberone auction featuring a counted cross-stitch kit that was titled "Shabby Chic Counted Cross Stitch 11"x13" Picture Kit." eBay complied and took down the Tabberone auction.

Meadors said he emailed Shabby Chic and its lawyers, who ignored his emails. On Tuesday, October 28, 2003, in the Tenth Federal District Court for Colorado, in Denver, he and Dudnikov filed suit against Shabby Chic alleging perjury, business interference, and invalid trademark.

John Kelly of the law firm Kelly Bauersfeld Lowry & Kelley has represented Shabby Chic Inc. in the area of trademarks since the company's inception. He said he is mindful of the lawsuit, and they are currently looking into it. It would be "inappropriate to comment" further, since they are still checking out the allegations contained in the complaint, he said.

An article written about Dudnikov and Meadors in August (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y03/m08/i05/s02) outlines their battles with other corporations who shut down their auctions through eBay's VeRO program. In September, Major League Baseball Properties agreed to settle with Dudnikov over a trademark dispute (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y03/m09/i09/s03).

Previous trademark-related lawsuits filed by Dudnikov and Meadors have been settled out of court. More information can be found on the Tabberone Web site.

http://www.tabberone.com