Amazon.com thinks Internet users are fool enough to confuse its name

In its move to prevent a Swiss social website from using its good name as a promotional vehicle Amazon.com inadvertently became the promoter itself by starting to dispute the rights of Amazee to bear a name that is similar to the online retailer’s, reports the Register.

While Amazon.com deals in selling everything from books and groceries to virtual timeshares of its extensive data center infrastructure Amazee is a "collaboration website" made for social activists and protestors to organize, promote, and fund their public uprisings and Earth-saving efforts. And even though each of the site offers distinct services Amazon.com is objecting the social site’s right to share "amaz" in its name and tries to block Amazee's US trademark application.

Meantime Amazee also is actively repelling the unfair attacks by trying to enlist the public support on a dedicated site where the company said that its "peaceful and cooperative efforts to reach an amicable solution have not borne any fruits."

“This, as you can imagine, is very annoying for us. We see no danger of confusion. Our name comes from the word "amazing", theirs from the mighty Amazon river. We have no intention of selling books, CDs, or whatever Amazon has in stock,” said Amazee’s blog post.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in turn reported that Amazon.com has been opposing Amazee's name since the beginning of this year. According to the attorneys of Amazon the average person won’t immediately appreciate the differences between Amazon and Amazee which will result in consumer confusion between the two brands. Could it be so that the Internet is staffed with full idiots that cannot see the difference between designed shirts and environment protection?

Source: The Register