May 23, 2013

Lowe's v. Harkleroad

NOTE: The information and commentary contained in this database entry are based on court filings and other informational sources that may contain unproven allegations made by the parties. The truthfulness and accuracy of such information is likely to be in dispute. Information contained in this entry is current as of the last event mentioned in the "Description" section below; additional proceedings might have taken place in this matter since this event.

Posted October 3rd, 2007 by DMLP Staff

Summary

Threat Type: Correspondence	Date: 09/19/2007
Status: Concluded	Location: Georgia
Disposition: Settled (total)	Verdict/Settlement Amount: n/a
Legal Claims: Trademark Infringement
Allen Harkleroad was dissatisfied with the installation of a fence he purchased from Lowe's. When Lowe's refused to provide further assistance, Harkleroad launched a "gripe" site, Lowes-sucks.com. On the site, Harkleroad posted photos and text detailing his complaints about the... read full description

Parties

Party Issuing Legal Threat:	Party Receiving Legal Threat:
LF, LLC (affiliated with Lowe's)	Allen Harkleroad
Type of Party:	Type of Party:
Large Organization	Individual
Location of Party:	Location of Party:
Delaware	Georgia
Legal Counsel:	Legal Counsel:
Rebecca E. Green ("Trademark Manager", LF, LLC)

Description

Allen Harkleroad was dissatisfied with the installation of a fence he purchased from Lowe's. When Lowe's refused to provide further assistance, Harkleroad launched a "gripe" site, Lowes-sucks.com. On the site, Harkleroad posted photos and text detailing his complaints about the installation, deploring Lowe's workmanship and customer service, and describing the actions of Lowe's attorneys and debt collectors.

On September 19, 2007, LF, LLC, a company that owns and manages Lowe's trademarks, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Harkleroad. The letter asserted that Harkleroad's use and alteration of Lowe's trademarks on his site, as well as in the domain name itself, constituted trademark infringement under federal law. The letter warned that LF would "consider other legal remedies" if Harkleroad did not respond by Sept. 28, 2007.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is representing Harkleroad in the dispute. A September 24, 2007 update on Lowes-sucks.com indicated that Harkleroad's attorneys had been in contact with Lowe's attorneys about a settlement. Ars Technica reported on September 26, 2007 that Harkleroad made a settlement "counter-offer," to which Lowe's had not yet responded.

The Lowes-sucks.com website is no longer operational, leading us to believe that the parties settled.

Related Links:

Cease-and-Desist Letter from LF, LLC, reprinted at Lowes-sucks.com (scroll down to Sept. 20 Update)

Ars Technica: Intellectual property laws abused in quest to shutdown Lowes-Sucks.com

Details

Website(s) Involved:	Content Type(s):
Lowes-sucks.com (defunct)	Photo, Text
Publication Medium:	Subject Area(s):
Website	Trademark

Court Information & Documents

Location of Filing/Threat:	Source of Law:
Georgia	United States
Court Name:	Court Type:

Case Number:

Relevant Documents:

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Lowe's v. Harkleroad

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