Teflon - A registered trademark

[Apex Jr]

Hi Guys...
I've just been hit with a trademark infrindgement letter
stating I can't use the word Teflon on my website.(Wire)
They tell me since I'm not buying from them and do not
have a license they have asked me to remove the name from my website. The wire is a good seller for me and
my prices are lower than anyone, so I'm kind of wondering
if there's any other key words or idea's on how I can promote
this without the word being used.
I've asked to get a license or if I use the word and put that
R under the name or use a phase to state that the trademark is there's but to no avail This along with the RoHs stuff
is making it very hard to stay in business...
Any Idea's
Steve @ Apex Jr.

[Zen Mod]

If I remember correctly-they made Teflon for Space Shuttle?

you can use that link....'special plastic thingie for eggs baking and Space Shuttle"

[SY]

"PTFE" is the generic term.

[gmikol]

Steve--

Is DuPont the manufacturer of the coating that's on your wire? If not, I can understand their position. It dilutes their trademark to have any type of polymer fluorocarbon referred to as Teflon. (see Xerox, Kleenex, etc.)

I know it's not perfect, but what about using the generic term for teflon, PTFE? And referring to it on your webside as "PTFE Silver Plated Copper Wire" instead of "Teflon Silver Plated Copper Wire". Then have the PTFE part be a symlink to Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTFE

At least it's a start.

--Greg

EDIT: Ack...Sy beat me to it.

[dr.strangelove3]

Teflon is the brand name of PTFE by DuPont...
But not many people search on PTFE...

[Aengus]

What if you described it as "PTFE Silver Plated Copper Wire" and had a note that read "Teflon(R) is Dupont's Registered Trademark for PTFE - the wire I sell does NOT use Dupont's Teflon(R)". Don't see how the lawyers could argue against that, but anyone Googling "teflon wire" should get your site.

While I sympathize to a reasonably large extent with attempts to protect intellectual property - since I sometimes create it - I also object to the imperialism of lawyers who are trying to colonize the language and fence it off from us aboriginal users :-).

[EC8010]

Originally posted by dr.strangelove3
But not many people search on PTFE...

You're absolutely right, I find it much easier to just call it polytetrafluoroethylene.

[Apex Jr]

Thanks Guys....
You have given me a good idea and will implement it
with the link, great idea..... PTFE
5 heads are better than 1
Thanks for the help

Steve @ Apex Jr.

[KBK]

Look at the date of the original trademark and patent registration. It may have run it's course. At that point....pardon my legal ignorance..but it may be a moot issue.

Also, the generic thingie. Kleenex, ski-doo, Xerox, etc. Teflon is likely now generic. Like 'Cola'. Dupont is simply being ..uh..***.

I WANT my product to become part of the backdrop of life. It's like a licence to print money. Wait.... the Fed does that already.

Oh, yes. If you know the original maufacturer of the wire you are selling, look up if it is an actual Teflon brand based Dielectric. If it is, then you have the right to call it what it is. Then you can grab the Dupont Lawyer by his $3 tie, haul him arcoss his desk,and tell him to take a long hard suck on your backside.

[I_Forgot]

There is an "old" search engine trick to get people searching for your competitors to see a link to your site. Lets say you are McDonalds. You put "Burger King" in the key words list on your site so that any time someone searches for "Burger King", they see your site, along with all the Burger King sites.

You can do the same with the phrase "teflon wire". Put it in the key words for your PTFE coated wire page. When someone searches for "teflon wire" they will still see your page even though the word does not appear anywhere on the visible page.

I_F