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GoPets.com Domain Name Information

In the United States we have wonderful freedom of speech rights, we are free to continue to express our opinions. During a hearing in this case the judge said that our rights of expression and speech cannot possibly be limited by prohibiting us from using any website, even on an unrelated business, to comment favorably about the Korean company's business or critically about the business, but, in any event, not in a way that suggests that we are conducting the business of the Korean company. We appreciate the rights we have been granted and we believe these same rights will assist us in reaching a fair resolution of this case.

Our Founding Fathers ensured that the right of free speech would be protected for all Americans. We appreciate the liberties and privileges that have been provided and that we enjoy as US citizens. This right will now be exercised as the following opinions are expressed describing some of our views of the sequence of events that have taken place while preserving and defending the ownership of our domain name.

Over 9 years ago my brother and I purchased the domain name “GoPets.com” to develop an informational website for pet lovers and pet enthusiasts.  Over the years we contently worked on our website, but would have no idea what lay ahead of us in terms of time and cost for simply protecting our name.  Five years after our existence, a well funded Korean company started a website using the domain “gopetslive.com”.  They soon found that they much preferred our premium term “GoPets”.  Our story tells of the remarkable measures this Korean company has engaged in for the last 4 years in a continued attempt to outright take our domain name from us.

We appreciate everyone who is steadfast behind us; we appreciate all of you and all the support you have shown us.  We would like to reiterate our unwavering resolve to take up this cause and see to it that fairness prevails. We will not relent. We will continue to move forward no matter which avenue we must take or how far up the path we must go. Fundamentally the law is on our side and the evidence will speak for itself. We will see this through no matter what effort or duration is required to ensure that justice is preserved.  

We appreciate those who have already contributed to this site and we invite you and others to contact us to obtain the information required so that you may be able to participate and post your opinions.

The following opinions are to help provide information for all those who have supported us and for those that are interested in seeking justice for domain name ownership rights:

Read about another trademark case: Execs face jail time

A document filed with the court states that the bad faith and malice of Erik Bethke, the Chief Executive Officer of GOPETS, LTD, is clearly demonstrated by his documented statement to his associates in which he used a four-letter obscenity to describe what he planned to do to one of the owners of the domain name. (The document was filed with the court by the attorney for the Korean company.) For more information please visit the PACER service center.

 

  

 
 
 

Far more evidence has been discovered during this process which is extremely damaging to the Plaintiffs case. The information is currently labeled “confidential” and not privy to everyone. We strongly believe if the public were to have access to this information, evidence which has been produced by the Plaintiff themselves, this case would be vastly different today.  
 

  • In 1999 we purchase GoPets.com in a genuine effort to assist pets and animals, and those who care for them, online.

  • Two months later we develop a 37-page business report for GoPets.com and submit it to the University of California-Santa Barbara. Website content for GoPets.com is outlined and developed for the Internet.

  • In 2004, Erik Bethke, a game developer in Korea, acknowledges in writing that we are the owners of GoPets.com.

  • Bethke first offers to purchase our domain in 2004.

  • In an effort to seize GoPets.com, Bethke’s Korean company misrepresents critical facts to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and files a claim against us in May 2006.

  • GoPets.com is locked up from our full control during the WIPO proceedings.

  • WIPO rejects Bethke’s claim in July 2006 and the Administration Panel rules in our favor (Case 2006-0636)

  • The Korean company files an application for the US trademark "GoPets". In the application the company fails to mention its knowledge of us and GoPets.com, our first use of the term GoPets.com, its admission to us that we owned the domain, its repeated offers to purchase the domain from us, and the WIPO ruling which also confirmed our ownership.

  • In 2003, Bethke authors “Game Development and Production.” When addressing the selection of a domain name and trademark he states that "simple" URLs are already taken, and he specifically goes out of his way to advise people not to select a domain name that “could potentially confuse the consumer” (Pg. 336).

  • Bethke’s company initiates, operates, and makes public the URL for its online game, which is originated and still runs at gopetslive.com.

  • Seven and a half years after we establish GoPets.com, the Korean company obtains a trademark for the term “GoPets.”

  • Bethke, the CEO of gopets ltd., expresses multiple times in writing his knowledge of our intended use for the GoPets.com, which pertains to real animals and pets and has nothing to do with animated cartoon stand-ins.

  • Additional offers to purchase the domain are made shortly before the Federal Case is filed. The mere act of making an offer confirms our ownership of GoPets.com and all the rights associated with the domain.

  • Bethke indicates in an email in 2006 that if we do not accept his latest offer he will no longer be interested in our domain as it "loses all real urgency" and that he would move forward with another name. No sale takes place.

  • In March 2007, a lawsuit is filed against us with the US District Court in the Central District of California, Case CV07-1870 AHM (VBKx). This case can be found with the PACER service center. The Korean company is represented by lawyers Tanya Forsheit and Michael Firestein of the law firm of Proskauer Rose, LLP. A claim of cyber squatting is alleged. This is the second action taken by the Korean company directed at us to seize our domain GoPets.com.

    Why does the Korean company now assert that it should have our domain taken from us and granted to them? Again, Bethke put in writing that we owned GoPets.com as early as 2004 (before he ever filed for the trademark of our term). In November 2006, several months before the federal lawsuit was filed, Bethke also put in writing, “I understand from our last conversation (your group's goal) is to grow and operate a successful online pet company.” The Plaintiff is completely aware of our plans for real pets and real animals and that it has nothing to do with cartoon avatars.

  • GoPets.com was purchased before the cyber-squatting law was enacted. We obtained GoPets.com five years before the Korean company existed.
  • We have had nothing but a sincere and genuine interest in developing our pet and animal site. Based on the overwhelming facts and evidence that has been brought to light, we feel the Federal Lawsuit should be dropped immediately. We believe we are entitled to our domain. We also believe we are owed an apology for the effort we have had to endure to defend and maintain our domain name.

  • Four individuals with our group have been deposed at length, our records have been subpoenaed from several of our business associations, hundreds of documents have been handed over to the Plaintiff and an untold amount of hours have been spent defending our domain name since May 2006, when the first WIPO claim was made against us. Over the last two years, when the Korean company experienced its greatest growth, we have not been provided the same opportunities to fully develop our site due to the restrictions placed on us because of the ongoing disputes.

  • In late 2007, a court-ordered injunction was placed on our website, which resulted in the placement of text at the top of our site and limited us from using our domain name on the GoPets.com site.
  • Serious questions remain outstanding with the legitimacy of the “GoPets” trademark itself. A Trademark Trial and Appeal Board case was filed to address these issues in late 2007. The proceeding is currently on hold due to the current activity with the Federal Court. The TTAB might resume again after other issues have been decided.

  • We find it highly hypocritical that Bethke is championing the idea of creating a bill of rights for virtual avatars yet in the real world we live in he chooses to neglect one of the most basic and fundamental rights of property owners.

  • Motion for Summary Judgment was scheduled to be heard in court on April 21, 2008, in Los Angeles but has since been postponed.

  • We remain committed to our cause and look forward to resuming the continued development of our site soon.
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