Against Nat Cohen’s Telepathy Dismissed — PLA.com Lawsuit
Project Leadership Associates drops case over PLA.com.
In September Project Leadership Associates Inc. sued Nat Cohen’s Telepathy, Inc. in an effort to get the domain name PLA.com.
Following many months of back and forth, counting counterclaims by Telepathy against Project Leadership Associates, the case has been dropped. Cohen released the following statement:
Project Leadership Associates and Telepathy Inc. are pleased to announce the dismissal with prejudice of all claims and counterclaims in the domain name civil litigation previously pending in the Northern District of Illinois as Project Leadership Associates v. Telepathy Inc., Case No. 10 CV 05810. Both parties have agreed that Telepathy Inc.’s registration and use of the domain name pla.com violates no enforceable rights of Project Leadership Associates.
Following the lawsuit was filed Cohen alleged that he had a deal to sell the domain to Project Leadership Associates for $80,000, but that the firm later backed out.
He also alleged that the firm misrepresented itself when it filed for a federal trademark for PLA.
This is a common trap firms fall into when trying to get generic domain names through lawsuits. A sophisticated defense can poke holes in their trademark registrations, putting the firm’s entire trademark plans at risk.
