Soldonacure.ca Update

Well, after my post "Denver, We Have A Problem", I decided to lay low for a couple of days to see what kind of company I now work for. I stopped building the Sold On a Cure facebook group, stopped posting on the blog and didn't send out any marketing materials. Very professional, don't you think? I was hopeful that things could get ironed out.

I sent a letter to the people who told me to stop using Sold On A Cure. I have decided to paste a copy of that letter here. Below that, I will detail all of the correspondence I have had since then and the BIG NEWS!!!!

Good morning (persons name removed).

This email is to begin discussions about what I am to do with www.soldonacure.ca. I will detail my thoughts, my actions and my expectations.

Let me begin by stating that I came to (your company) as a result of your relationship with the CBCF and the work I could do for them. As you know, I was previously with Century 21 in Kingston and London where we offered Air Miles. Whoop-dee-doo! That is why I started, on my own initiative and without any corporate help, my program called Goats For Homes where, in partnership with World Vision Canada I would purchase goats, other livestock or school supplies for needy communities in Africa. As I had the full co-operation of World Vision Canada and this program was entirely mine, I was able to act without consideration for corporate trademarks. I had free access to all World Vision material including photos, graphics and logos. When I wanted to send a press release it was as simple as calling my contact and "my will be done".

I would like to continue by sharing my vision of what I was trying to accomplish with www.soldonacure.ca. As a sales representative, my trade area is restricted by geographic territory but with referrals I can market and profit from anywhere in the world. I recognize that I do very little work on a referral that I farm out and I am more than willing to donate a huge percentage to a worthwhile campaign. Considering that I am an individual and not a multi-national corporation, I have had great success in the past getting my message out to the masses. I do this by creating fun, engaging and smart campaigns that are designed to pique the interest of editors across Canada and into the States. The fact that 'stories' are written about me and that I do not advertise in the traditional sense, means that my colleagues are not offended by my efforts and are pleased when a referral comes into the office as this could have been business that went to another brokerage but as a result of my efforts have found their way into a (name of company removed) office with a (name of company removed) rep.

Now, I have invested over 100 hours of work into this program. As you know, I purchased the domain soldonacure.ca, started facebook groups, a blog, joined activerain.com, contacted many breast cancer support groups, created and printed a great deal of marketing material and designed my website all in anticipation of my big launch set for last week. I believe that the license to use the term Sold On A Cure was extended to me as I am able to use it in printed material, sign riders, graphics etc. If I only consider my time worth $25/hour, I value my investment into this at around $3500 and it is not something that I can afford to just give up. I want to work with you, but I don't want to feel as though I am being pushed either.

Here is the big problem that I am dealing with. Sold On A Cure is not a registered trademark. (Your company) owns Sold For The Cure but not Sold On A Cure. The domain soldonacure.com is owned by someone in the states from another company, but it has expired and will be available to purchase in about 3 weeks. It was never used. soldonacure.ca, .net, .org, .biz, .info etc.
have never been registered. (Your company) has had this relationship with the CBCF since 2004 but no effort has been made to register the trademark or the domain name.

The aggressive side of me wants to file a formal application to register the phrase Sold On A Cure. It will cost me $250.00. The cost to file a statement of opposition will cost you $750.00, not to mention the further $1,500.00 in transfer fees and to be awarded the completed statement of objection. Add to that the cost of corporate lawyers and your cost will quickly exceed $10,000 and that is if I don't fight it. Realistically, I wouldn't win the battle, but it would give me great exposure in this new market that I am in. The media will eat it up and I will surely gain more in PR than my initial $250 investment. But I am only aggressive when backed into a corner. I am a team player and I am very excited to be with (Your company) after so many years with C21. I don't want to ruffle feathers and I certainly don't want to shoot the duck. That said, I don't want the duck to poop on me either.

May I suggest a friendly compromise? I will do what you want with the www.soldonacure.ca domain and will destroy all of my marketing material. I would like to keep my facebook group and blog, but I will edit anything that suggests that I am claiming ownership of the program Sold On A Cure and will only emphasize my involvement within the program (which I believe I have already done). I would like to continue working with (name removed) and (name removed) from the CBCF to create a press release that is acceptable to your standards. I would like it to be distributed to all of your media contacts without consideration of my trading area. I understand through a previous conversation with (name removed) that only local media may be contacted as you represent all (the company) associates equally. If this is still your position then I would like a copy of the media list so that I can send the release myself and remove your involvement in the distribution. Lastly, I would like to be compensated for my time and material. As I stated previously, I have conservatively estimated my investment at $3500.00.

I hope you can consider this offer in the spirit in which it is intended and I am looking forward to a speedy resolution of this issue. All I really want to do is sell houses and the sooner I can get this behind me and refocus my efforts, the better.

Stuart Smith
stuart@stuartsmith.ca
(905) 728-1600

Now, this next paragraph is the sum total of all communication received from my company regarding Sold On A Cure since then.

NOTHING!!! No returned calls, no emails, NOTHING!!! Actually, I did receive one email mentioning "If I can call you on Friday, I will." Friday was 10 days ago. I would be happy for a formal letter from a lawyer, but I can not stand being ignored. And I won't be. At some point, someone will have to speak with me to explain my next paragraph, the subject of which I will pretend to not know anything about. I expect my response will be, "Oh, is that why you called?"

The day this all began, guess who paid their high priced attorneys at Weirfolds LLP to register a trademark on Sold On A Cure? Don't believe me? Check it out yourself by clicking here.

Now what do I do? Do I sit back and wait for Weirfolds to contact me or do I just plug along? I just HATE it when people who are in positions of seniority do not have the respect to contact people directly.

If, by chance, you are the subject of this post and are reading this, I have been professional every step of the way and your behaviour is cowardly and weak. This post is simply the first of many potential steps of escalation until I receive a call from you. Don't worry about it though. You may not even have to speak with me. Once I hear your voice I'd bet you dollars to donuts that I am going to hang up on you.