U.S. Chamber Files Civil Complaint to Protect Trademark and Intellectual Property From Unlawful Use

U.S. Chamber Files Civil Complaint to Protect Trademark and Intellectual
Property From Unlawful Use

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
today filed a civil complaint in federal district court to protect its
trademarks and other intellectual property from unlawful use by the "Yes Men"
and others in furtherance of their various commercial enterprises. The "Yes
Men" and their associates misappropriated the Chamber's logo and other
protected marks; created a fraudulent Web site that was an exact replica of
and linked to the Chamber's actual site; and falsely claimed to be speaking as
the Chamber under the Chamber's copyright.

The lawsuit was filed after lawyers representing the "Yes Men" refused to
decommission the fraudulent Web site, in another bold attempt to increase
sales of merchandise and tickets to their new movie. The Chamber's complaint
is a customary response by any organization faced with this type of misconduct
by the defendants.

"The Chamber is a strong proponent of free speech and encourages public debate
on issues of the day," said Steven Law, Chief Legal Officer and General
Counsel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "However, the law is clear that you
can't misappropriate others' intellectual property for personal financial
gain."

"The defendants are not merry pranksters tweaking the establishment. Instead,
they deliberately broke the law in order to further commercial interest in
their books, movies, and other merchandise. Ironically and unfortunately,
this lawsuit might even help in that regard, but these acts are nothing less
than commercial identity theft masquerading as social activism and must be
stopped.

"We are confident that we have strong legal claims and that this is an
appropriate response to protect our intellectual property rights."

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more
than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

www.uschamber.com
www.chamberpost.com

SOURCE U.S. Chamber of Commerce

JP Fielder of U.S. Chamber of Commerce, +1-202-463-5682