Warning letter, once again... This time because of the brand "Geek Nerd"

It's usually a lot of fun being one of the bosses of an online store as cool as getDigital, but there are days when some things are really annoying... Yesterday was one such day: around midday, our assistant Lena came into my office and, with a sigh, placed a letter from Kiel lawyer Lutz Schroeder on my desk. You may have guessed it already: we had been warned again. As is so often the case, with horrendous fee demands and for reasons that seem highly questionable...

But from the beginning: The company Trade Buzzer UG has registered the trademark "Geek Nerd". It has apparently recently started selling a few shirts on eBay (don't let any of you buy them now! ;) ). Now she has sent us a warning letter and wants to prohibit us from using the terms for our shirts. Of course, this is practically impossible for a geek store! We are now supposed to stop using them immediately and additionally 1531.90 EUR warning fees to pay. Of course, you immediately ask yourself how this is possible: After all, the words geek and nerd are now normal words in the German language. That's even true, the trademark is probably not enforceable, but the problem is that a judge doesn't necessarily recognize that immediately, since older people in particular may not know the terms after all. If anyone is interested in the details of the warning letter: We have uploaded a scan here.

To understand the motivation behind the warning, it may help to take a closer look at the people involved. The Kiel lawyer Lutz Schroeder is apparently quite active when it comes to warning letters, at least that's what a Google search for his name where various advertisements on the subject of "fending off warning letters" immediately appear. He also boasts on his own website (deliberately not linked) that he sends out file-sharing warnings:

We represent numerous rights holders in prosecuting the illegal distribution of copyrighted material via Internet file-sharing networks.

Among others probably also for Rights holders of pornographic films.

A search for the name of the managing director of Trade Buzzer UG reveals that he is the chairman of an "Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property on the Internet (VSGE)". A certain proximity to the topic of warnings therefore also seems to exist there. Trade Buzzer UG has registered even more, in my opinion, questionable trademarks and is issuing warnings to other retailers, e.g. this blog entry shows.

So what is happening here? Of course, we can't prove it and that's why I can't simply claim anything for legal reasons (after all, I don't want to risk the next warning letter), but I think that someone wants to earn money by registering trademarks via warning letters. I simply assume that it's not really about selling the T-shirts, but rather about getting retailers like us to pay warning fees.

Since you know us by now, you'll know that we're not afraid of such things. not put up with this. The warning letters simply came to the wrong person! So if in doubt, we will go to court and make sure that such people are stopped! The only annoying thing is that such things usually cost a lot of money, even if we win. Private individuals or very small companies can quickly get into serious problems, but it is also very annoying for us. So it's all the more important that we fight back. We will of course keep you up to date on what happens. For now, it's off to our lawyer...