[Pharm-policy] German trademark dispute involving Bayerwatch.Org

[James Love]

Criticism of Bayer as trademark violation.  Jamie

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: German domain name controversy, re: Bayer
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 10:45:31 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>
To: James Love <love@cptech.org>,
<vbushnell@Essential.ORG>,<plevy@citizen.org>

From: CBGnetwork <CBGnetwork@gmx.net>
To: CBGnetwork@aol.com
Subject: BAYER ATTACKS CRITICAL COVERAGE

Dear friends,
Bayer Corporation forced us to stop our homepage www.bayerwatch.org (see
attached article). Please change your link to our new site:
www.CBGnetwork.org
Our group will not be allowed to bear the name Bayerwatch. We have to
use our German name CBG (Coordination gegen BAYER-Gefahren /
Coordination against BAYER-dangers). Please change our name in your
publications because we will be fined for using "Bayerwatch" and please
spread the following article. Thanks for your cooperation!

BAYER ATTACKS CRITICAL COVERAGE
Economic superiority puts a stop to homepage

Bayer AG has forced the German group Coordination against BAYER-Dangers
(CBG) to remove their homepage from the Internet by threatening them
with heavy court costs. CBG had registered a domain and had oriented the
name to be similar to other group names such as Germanwatch, AOLwatch,
and Human Rights Watch. Bayer has taken legal action to apparently avoid
confusion - despite the homepage's unequivocally critical orientation.

The company also forced the group to cancel the related trademark by
threatening them with a second court case. The CBG had already
successfully registered the aforementioned name with the Munich Patent
Office. Bayer has assessed the amount of the controversies to be 250,000
DM (115.000 US$) each, which would have led to the CBG having to pay
over 100,000 DM in court costs. The honorary association therefore had
no other choice but to concede by canceling the trademark and homepage.

The Patent Office's copyright investigation had reviewed whether there
was any danger of confusion as a result of the copyrighted trademark and
had determined that there was none. Bayer's arguments are also ignoring
a recent court decision that declared that a domain name cannot be
viewed separately from the contents of a homepage.

Axel Koehler-Schnura had the following to say about the issue: "Bayer's
behavior in this issue, which is clearly directed towards the network's
economic ruin is clearly an attack on democratic principles and freedom
of opinion. The company is obviously afraid of a public discussion and
has instead chosen repression and the devastating power of money".
According to Koehler-Schnura, the association does not want to waste its
energy on legal hair-splitting on letters, but instead chooses to
continue to publicize the company's role in causing environmental
damage, maintaining worker exploitation and endangering human health
throughout the world.

The Bayer Group's attempts to prohibit the CBG from criticizing the
company on the Internet have failed. You can now find all of the
network's information and publications (including English newsletter
Keycode Bayer) at www.cbgnetwork.org. However, the proceedings have
already used up an exorbitant amount of money, which could threaten the
group's existence. The CBG is therefore urgently asking for financial
backing against the expensive legal attacks. Please show your support
and transfer money to the following German bank account:
Oekobank, account number 17 96 12, bank routing number (BLZ) 500 901 00
In addition, the CBG is asking associated groups to stage protests
against this attack at the Bayer headquarters. An initial attempt by
Bayer to silence the group was rejected by the Bundesverfassungsgericht
(German Federal Constitutional Court) in 1992. The CBG has been
campaigning against the questionable practices of Bayer's international
operations for over 20 years.


CBG/Coordination against BAYER-dangers collects information about BAYER
and coordinates activities against violations of human and environmental
rights caused by this company. Anyone who has information on possibly
illicit activities of BAYER - please let us know. Anyone who needs
photos or information concerning BAYER is invited to contact us:

CBG/Coordination against BAYER-dangers, Postfach 15 04 18, 40081
Duesseldorf, Germany
E-mail: CBGnetwork@aol.com
website: www.CBGnetwork.org
Fax: +49 211 333 940 Tel: +49 211 333 911
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