The Net Responds
Oh, boy! Things are rolling! We have suggested names,
letters to TRU, letters to editors, and letters to us.
I cannot thank everyone enough for the support!
We can't disclose full contest entries yet, but we can
let you see a few of the letters of support we have received.
Meanwhile, write letters to Geoffrey! Alert Dave Barry!
Write the Attorney General! (Maybe we can get on TV when the
BATF is sent in to wipe us out!)
All opinions expressed belong to their owners. Our opinions
about a certain mongo toy chain and its corporate parent
are hopefully apparent from these pages!
Remember, you must send the letters to TRU via us,
or at least Cc: us, if you want to qualify for the contest!
Names will be added after the contest is over.
What You've Been Saying
Some of these have been lightly edited purely for spelling,
grammar, or strong language. My comments are emphasized just
like this text - email you've sent is in quotes.
Added to page Dec. 6
"Yes, it's ridiculous. Yes, it's true. They are going
after everyone who uses anything like r-us in the name.
A close friend of mine _was_ working at (one of?) the law
firm(s) handling the trademark infringement issues. (I
e-mailed him your URL!) Supposedly, they send their law
clerks to research company names in phone books, etc.,
and any that they find anywhere are asked to change their
name. This includes ALL industries, NOT just toys.
They have a right to protect their name (see below) but
THIS is WAY out of hand. RRU cannot be considered a threat
ito TRU in any way. I would never have seen your site if
the lawsuit was not mentioned in a net magazine!"
"Your obnoxious actions regarding Roadkills-R-Us
has forced me to boycott your store. I highly recommend
that you tell your legal department to, ``get a clue''.
I have 7 nieces and nephews and I can assure you that I will
not walk into one of your stores, ever! Further, I
will encourage others to boycott your store becaues of the
obvious bullying tactics of your legal department.
In case you still can't figure it out, Roadkills-R-Us
(http://www.rru.com/rru/) is NOT a real company. Further,
what is the content of the pages (including the name
Roadkills-R-Us) is protected under the Constituion as Free
Speech. Further, there are numerous cases showing that satire
and parody (that's what Roadkills-R-Us is) is protected as
Free Speech.
Perhaps your legal department can reread the Constitution. I would
also suggest that they contact Intel (R) and ask them about what
happened when they tried to ``blow off'' the Internet community.
Ask them how many Pentium (R) processors they had to replace.
The only way I will even consider stopping my boycott is if
Toys-R-Us, Inc. does the following:
1)Issues a formal apology
2)Places the apology on the Toys-R-Us home page for a period
of at least 6 months
3)Places an ad in USA Today (R) with the apology
4)Gives Mr. O'Neal $1,000,000 (US Currency)
Thank you and good riddance."
I'd accept less, but probably not in Geoffrey Bucks.
Added to page Dec. 4
"...one would expect companies in the
big business to spend their time in useful things. It does
seem that some corporate lawyers either a) got tired of
playing solitaire (or whatever they do in their idle hours,
which seem to be far too many, anyway); b) felt they should
prove that their work _is_ worth something (and this must
be a very hard case) or c) are having a bad time and need
to pour it down on somebody.
I do hope that this turns back on themselves. In fact, I
wish this stupidity spreads up through their whole staff;
if all of the company deals with their jobs in this same
way, in no time they'll be on the verge of bankrupcity.
Ah, yes, I support that Mac-truck-hitting-of-the-giraffe
suggestion too.
Go get 'em."
"Good. I sent them a nastygram via e-mail (to their
web-site), and requested someone forward it to (and I
quote, roughly verbatim) ``your legal department. Those
[deleted].'' Private forum, and it'd only be libel if it
weren't true. Taking the issue of whether ``the law, sir,
is an ass'' to court is my idea of fun."
"I'm afraid I don't have any submissions to offer other than
praise for your efforts and a hope that you keep the name.
Until I had read the letters that you had received from
Ms. Fowler, I had held an esteemed image of Toys-R-Us.
As a representative of Toys-R-Us, Ms. Fowler certainly did
more to damage my perception of Toys-R-Us as as a company
who is interested in furthering fun and laughter. My
suggestion to the public-relations people at Toys-R-Us would
be to cease harrassment of Roadkills as soon as possible.
The longer Toys keeps it up, the more people WILL associate
Roadkill with Toys-R-Us, since Roadkill does seem to have a
considerably stronger net presence than Toys-R-Us. In
fact, I wasn't aware that Toys-R-Us even had a site until I
read about it here. If it weren't for the threat of litigation
against a site I find humorous, the association with Toys-R-Us
wouldn't have even occurred to me."
Added to page Dec. 3
"I have already sent them comments via their web page. I reminded them that
20 years ago, or so, they were the little guys, and beset by some bullying
action groups that actually coerced some jurisdictions to pass legislation
forbidding backwards letters in any public signs or logos. It was felt that
the backwards R was damaging to the educational process of children. At that
time, reasonable people came to their defense in light of such absurdity.
Hmmm, maybe that's not a bad idea. We could resurect that movement.
Of course I promised that in the future I would spend exactly zero dollars
in TRU or any affiliated R-US businesses.
And that holds even if they back off. The only way I would reconsider is if
they made a public, national media apology to you (halftime at the super
bowl would probably be acceptable) and actively promoted your site
from theirs.
I don't really care about any contests, but you can forward this to TRU
as you see fit.
The idealist in me says you should keep the name and fight. The realist in
me acknowledges that practicality may require that you knuckle under, sad as
that will make us all.
It *would* be fun to stay home days and watch it on Court TV, tho. Maybe
Target or Wal-mart would subsidize your defense. If they had a sense of
humor, they'd sponsor you doing a Roadkill-MART page."
Added to page Dec. 2
"You are in the right--don't let some big, faceless corporation hide
behind the identity of a stuffed bit of felt fashioned to look like a
giraffe. The only reason they're even trying is because everyone doing
their dirty-work can hide behind a copyrighted name and convince
themselves not to feel any guilt. 'I'm just following orders from higher
up.' they probably say to themselves. It's a sick world we live in when
people can call blatant wrong-doing and censorship "just a part of their
job.
Dear Toys-R-Us(tm) Legal Department,
In a day and age of rampant litigation, one must question
the wisdom of choosing to threaten a harmless, not-for-profit
net-site such as Roadkill-R-Us. Your action only encourages this
sort of dangerous, reactionary, leap-before-looking mentality in
good, honest folks.
1.) Were you to carry through on your threat, it no doubt would
receive media attention. This attention could be quite negative,
and hurt your business. Perhaps you think sponsoring censorship
is *good* business; I for one don't know what your opinion is on the
matter. What I *do* know is that if you *do* believe such action will
aid you in your efforts to make money, the mental/emotional health of your
leadership should perhaps come under close scrutiny by professionals (and
not the "professionals" you call a Legal Department, either).
2.) Were you to carry through on your threat, it would also further
encourage our society's ideology of ``if you can't beat 'em, sue 'em.'' Once
this is all over and the dust is cleared, whose to say you won't be sued
by parents who worry that you're teaching their children improper grammar
(look no further than your own corporations title for a prime example), or
for backing the increase in violent ``play'' by children who can't help the
fact that almost all the toys they can buy help breed antagonistic,
destructive behavior? Sure, you're just selling those products, but why
wouldn't some parent sue anyway? After all, it's been made clear by your
own actions that just about anyone with a bee in their bonnet and a
lawyer for a friend and/or employee can start a court case--even if they
couldn't produce a legitimate reason to save their job.
It honestly sounds to me like the staff of the Legal Department
have gotten pretty bored. I would even believe this started out as an
office joke but then blossomed into some twisted bit of self-righteous
folly. Surely no right-thinking person would have looked at the web
pages of RRU and said to themselves, ``Now *there*'s somebody we need to
sue.''
Although I have no children of my own (for whom I would refuse to
by any products from your store), I do have friends and family. It will
be my delight to inform them of your attitude towards freedom of
expression and your desire to inhibit one person's own creative work
(what sort of example does that set for the young minds whose money you
want...).
All moral stances aside, unless you own a copyright on the
acronym of "TRU," I don't really think you've got a legal leg on which
to stand. Add to that the fact that satire is not legally considered
copyright infringement (there is a legal precedent for this, although
the precise case escapes me), and you're really in a sad spot. It's sad to
see the brainpower of people obviously intelligent enough to complete a
law degree being wasted on an effort like this."
"I started my Christmas shopping last night, and I bought
some toys for my nieces. In the past I've always gone to
Toys R Us, but *not this time*. KayBee got my business."
"To the folks at Toys 'R' Us:
Only an absolute moron would equate a web page named
'Roadkill 'R' Us' with Toys 'R' Us. And absolute morons
don't generally operate computers. Also, is it really
worth spending the money in litigation to teach this
poor misguided soul a lesson? How many other times have
we seen the 'R Us' affiliated with something other than
Toys?
Perhaps you are spending way too much time taking yourselves
seriously..."
One of their points is that they already own various
other -R-Us trademarks. Of course, as we can see below,
there are others they have hassled, but *not* made go
away or pay them royalties. --Poor Misguided Soul
"I've just had a little talk with the lawyers at TRU, and I
think they've gotten the message. You'll probably receive
a letter tomorrow or the day after that saying they're sorry
causing all this trouble for you and allowing you to
continue using 'Roadkill-R-Us'. To show you their regrets
this letter will also contain a picture of a giraffe, that
climbed the fence at an African airport."
A refreshing change of pace, eh?
"Dear Sirs,
I fail to see why you choose to spend your money in legal
battles over the name of a webserver. Recently I was in one
of your stores. You would be much wiser to spend your money
on merchandise and presentation. Many of your stores are
obsolete and filthy. They are in dire need of renovation and
your personnel could certainly be trained more. The sales
associates I came in contact with were rude and unhelpful. The
merchandise I was trying to locate could not be found and
I was offered neither a raincheck or a substitution. Please
take this into consideration when you are stewing over the
fact that a web site is named Roadkills-R-Us. The name
has nothing whatsoever to do with your company or Geoffery.
It is simply a satirical web site where I can browse and
laugh. Your absurdity in seeking legal action against this
website has forced me to write this letter. I shall boycott
your store and continue to inform everyone I know of my terrible
experience while shopping in your store. One day, years from
now, when you go out of business I shall laugh at the thought
of your wasting money on frivilous legal battles over the
name of a satirical web site. Recently I have found a store
which carries just as good, if not a better, selection of toys
than your chain. Apparently this store is the second largest
seller of toys in the nation. It is a subsidiary of Dayton-Hudson
corporation and is called Target. This is where my hard-earned
money shall now be spent."
"Your legal department must be the dumbest, brain dead bunch
of idiots this side of, this side of, this side of, well I think
that they have the edge on both sides. Leave Roadkill-R-US alone!
I have a daughter, several cousins and many friends with children.
Rest assured, none of these children will ever receive a Toys-R-US
toy. Ever. Period. My family and friends believe that this is a
very, very, very bad PR move. A better move would have been
to sell a "Uncle Eddie the Pedophile Doll". If this is typical
of the rest of your management team, I won't have to worry, you
will be going out of business soon.
You stink."
"Obviously, your experience indicates that TRU should change
their corporate symbol to the wombat, as in the classic usage
"Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time". Good luck with your
'avocation'. Obviously the lawyer problem has gotten similar
to the white-tailed deer problem in the northeast, where an
excess of suburbs has created prime habitat. Short of
reintroducing their natural predators (what feeds on lawyers,
anyway?) I think your efforts should be put into starting a
corporate lawyer season; $25 tag and a bag limit of three.
Not to suggest belligerence on your part, after all, I'm not
the one getting letters from a legal department, but don't you
have a university with a law school nearby that would be itching
to take a first amendemnt case in the trendy world of computer
communications? It seems such a pity that we have to quietly
lie down and accept the corporate takeover of all public space,
both real and virtual."
"This is ridiculous. I can't even imagine what was going through
TRU's legal department people when they came to the conclusion
that people would confuse Toys-R-Us with a name like Roadkill-R-Us.
Evidently some legal-beagle started seeing dollar signs
and promotion opportunities or something. Then they had to top
it all off with trying to push a satirical non-entity around as
if it were a business. Stupid? Yes. Expected of lawyer types?
Unfortunately, also yes. If TRU is afraid of becoming
associated with something they need to consider that, in my
eyes, they're becoming associated with the greedy, bottom-feeding
and ambulance-chasing image of lawyers so often seen today.
Like more then a few others here, I think its time to boycott
TRU. K-Mart and Target (even though both of them are further
away then TRU) will be getting my business this Christmas, and
with two kids that actually means something."
"By the way, t-r-u should be ashamed of themselves-like you
are actually defaming their name! t-r-u they are not.
p-e-u, yes!"
"To whom it may concern: Having just browsed the several other letters
to the TRU corp. I have but one thing to add. I have but one life to
to give to my country - TRU, you need to stick your head in a bucket
of Ice water. Please don't take yourselves so seriously to think that
this world would be a sad place without the 'divine guidance' your
store gives to kids. Lets remember one thing. It's not the gift, but
the thought that counts. So let's start thinking, huh? Here's my two
bits, I hear they're having a clue sale at K-mart! Why don't you go
get one! Sincerely yours, one who hates shopping at TRU!"
"I must say I was very disappointed with the actions of
Toys R Us. This is just another example of a company who
understands little or nothing of Internet culture, and
has a knee-jerk reaction to something they obviously do
not understand. What is especially ironic is the timing
of Toys R US in launching this campaign. Whether they
realize it or not, their actions are insulting regular
Internet users familiar with the concept of Netiquette,
i.e., the basic rules of conduct in Cyberspace.
I am sure Toys R Us will be pleased to know that this little
negative PR stunt of theirs is getting some international
recognition. I am composing this letter from Bermuda. Like
residents of this country, I will be doing the majority of my Christmas
shopping in the states. I can assure you I will not be
patronizing Toys R Us. Their backward thinking lawyers have
succeeded in making Toys R Us appear to be the big corporate
heavy, trying to eradicate a non-corporate internet site dedicated
to providing a little humor on the Net.
It looks like I'll be shopping at Wal-Mart this year.
Mr Lazarus, take a good look at what your lawyers are doing
to your corporate image and act on it. And act on it
quickly."
"Somebody has their head up an Assault Giraffe.
Name suggestion:
Decomposing bodies of Toys-R-US laywers and executives"
"You have a real problem but here are a couple of solutions: Just change
the language. My preference is ``Los cuerpos de los caminos son nosotros''.
Or if you feel spanish is not quite elegant enough how about ``Les corps
de la rue sont nous''. In either case you could shorten the expressions:
``Cuerpos son nosotros'' or ``Les corps sont nous''"
"It has recently come to my attention that you have threatened
the Roadkills page with a lawsuit if they didn't change their name.
This leads me to believe that you have no understanding of toys
or what constitutes entertainment. Obviously the spirit of
youthful play is all but dead in your organization. Kind of sad
for a company which bases its whole existence on that concept.
I hereby refuse to frequent your establishments and will encourage
my friends to do the same until you retract your threats."
Added to page Nov. 30
"Hey! You are just another sufferer on
that highway of trademark roadkill where
the bigun's get the littlun's. <8^)>
Just look what happened to the old Auto
Shack, now Auto Zone, and all the other
cool names that were just a tad to close
to one of the BIGUN's. I'm positive that
you were planning to make tons of money
by having a name sorta, kinda, like the
giraffe guys (NOT!!!) and that's why they
had to squish you on the trademark road.
Oh well, even roadkill serves a purpose.
TTFN and Rots o' Ruck!! ;))"
"I think the giraffe should be run over by a HUGE!! Mack truck."
"Toys-R-Us is selfish!!!!"
"I have four small children and have in the past shopped at TRU when all
other purchasing avenues have failed. I can tell you from personal past
experience why TRU would want to protect the name Roadkill R Us. After
having purchased an item at this store, you feel as if you've been run over
by a semi, and been left to bake in the sun until you are sufficiently cooked
for the buzzards to nibble on. The only reason they didn't use the name
Roadkill R Us, is because a mangled bloody giraffe would not make a very
tantalizing child magnet. I think your name is great. Your forum is fun. I have
some unused Geoffery dollars you could use in your defense fund. Let me know...
As far as a new mane is concerned here are some ideas....As for me and mine,
WE'VE JOINED THE BOYCOTT"
" I think Shakespeare had it right: first, lets kill all the lawyers!
It strikes me that most of the letters are, in fact, form letters
and not anything generated by a real person who is reading the
replies. I cannot believe that anyone with even two brain cells
could not see in the RRU responses that there is no such thing and
that the Toys-R-Us[tm] name is not being infringed upon - poked fun at,
yes, but not infringed! Perhaps they have no sense of humor.
I will do anything I can to boycott TRU throughout the holiday
season and encourage others to do so as well. I say keep the
Roadkills-R-Us name and let 'em sue!"
Let me make it clear that I do not think all lawyers deserve death.
I actually know some wonderful lawyers who are also wonderful people.
But we do seem to have an overabundance, and I'm sure we could export
more to some underprivileged areas - Bosnia, for instance. Just a few.
I get to name them. Guess where they work.
"Unfortunately our court system has become so clogged with
litigation that has the substance of this case. It is
disappointing that you will have to change your name, but
at least you are getting an extraordinary amount of
attention out of this. Good luck!"
"oh, puh-leaze. this is the single most ridiculous thing i
have ever heard. ever. how sad that a respectable
corporation can make itself look petty, humorless and
downright laughable in just a few paragraphs. um, giraffe
guys, you are paranoid with a capital p. get over it. no
one with enough intelligence and money to walk into your
store and buy toys is going to confuse a roadkill web page
with a toy store. can you say clueless? the only ones who
seem to be confused by the roadkills r us designation are
you giraffes. as for the web page, just call it roadkills
are we. show that you're more literate than the giraffes
(a backwards r? no wonder kids today can't spell...)."
"Stand your ground RRU! Americans love a good fight and
always support the underdog, especially when the underdog
is being pushed around by a big overbearing giraffe. I'm
glad I saw your page before I started to spend on Christmas
presents. This year we'll buy our toys at Wal-Mart or K-Mart.
New name?????? Only as a last resort."
Added to page Nov. 28
"Based on a very old joke about TRU being taken over by a
minority group, and said joke not being p.c.(I can't repeat
it), how about We Be Roadkills, Roadkills Be Us (the easiest
route and not explicitly prohibited by Ms. Fowler), Roadkills
Armadillo Us, or Trademarks Are Roadkills. Remember, the
chicken crossed the road to show armadillos it could be done!
Keep up the great work and good luck."
"Message to Toys R Us : get a life you sad people."
"What you should do is take the a big rock and smash it over
the giraffe's head and have the head start to talk to you through
your toes. Once that happens call the president and ask
him if he wants to meet the giraffe."
And you thought I was weird! (And rightly so.)
"How about giving old Geoffrey a nice wicked case of strep throat?"
Added to page Nov. 26
"Well, this is pathetic. I still consider myself a newbie
and have yet to sight your webpages but the philosophy
behind the move to censure you must be unconstitutional,
surely. (we don't have a constitution in NZ - hence my
lack of knowledge)
It reminds me of a time 2 years back when a tiny country
store out the back of beyond renamed themselves Harrods for
a bit of a laugh, and had the full weight of the real Harrods
legal department come down on them. The response here was
incredulous and the small town near the store gazetted a
name change for one week to Harrods just to give them the
pip. Apparently geographic names slipped through a
loop-hole in trademark law.
Good luck guys, if you have been around longer than them
maybe some royalty payments to you would be in order!"
"I'm sorry about this whole R US mess after reading the first letter.
are, R, and us seem like fairly common everyday words and it's a bit of a farce
that a big stink can be made of it.
I'm sure you'll come up with a better, more colorful name anyway.
"I hate that boring toy store. They sell junk and have that big
stupid giraffe running around. I hope he gets hit by 5000000000
ton diesel truck.
He should be slaughtered and sold to the little kids that buy the
toys. You could buy the giraffe's [body parts]. Until the toy store
is out of business you should name your self RoAd KiLl Kafe, Giraffe
Garbage Disposal, (GGD) Dead Giraffe's are us!!!"
"I am 13 years old, and I don't shop at Toys r us. I haven't
since I was 6 years old (even though they consider me their
target age). I think this is the stupidest thing that I have
ever heard. I have been accessing Roadkills-R-Us (yeah.. i said it)
for a long time, and hadn't even thought of associating it with
Toys R Us until these pages came up. I think they are scared
that someone will run over Geoffery and he will become a main dish
at the (hehe... i'm gonna say it again ) Roadkills-R-Us cafe.
Oh, come on... let me say it again: ROADKILLS-R-US (hehehe... aren't I bad)"
You are. I hope Santa brings you a Texas Speedbump (Armadillo)
Throw Rug, coz yer so bad!
"I can freely promise never to enter TRU because
the nearest one is far, far away. Furthermore, I won't set
foot in a store whose name I don't understand.
They are toys? They didn't study grammar in school?
I used to think (being from Yukon Territory, Canada, where roadkill is
a way of life and an accepted hunting method for some)
that it was an American thing - Toys R. U.S. or something.
It still doesn't make sense to me.
However, RRU makes perfect sense - satire is always more
logical than reality.
Don't give up!
[Suggested names deleted.]
I'm too p-o'd about this to be creative at the moment!
TRU obviously understands Roadkill - big entity squishes small one -
but don't let 'em squish you dead!"
"Keep up the good work! I found your pages quit funny and
sent copies of your WWW address to my friends. I also sent
a nasty-gram to the caring folks at ToysRUs via their own
WWW page. (your page is MUCH better)"
"I'm amazed! And little Geoffrey looks so good natured and
intelligent! Maybe they'd be satisfied if you would divvy the
profits -- give them half of nothing and they might finally
get the idea.
Hang in there guy. I'll divert Josiah's Christmas toy wish
list to other stores. Unfortunately, I already bought the
bicycle from Geoff."
Added to page Nov. 25
"I think that it's pretty sad that the people that sell toys to kids
will sue you over a stupid thing like that - i mean our school
store has a name with the format __________-r-us but I'm not going to tell
you the name of my school 'cause then I might get sued."
I replied that I didn't blame him, but would NOT pass on any
names to TRU that they didn't already know about (such as cases below).
"Don't see why you have to change. They are being ridiculous.
Surely they have better things to do with their 1690016900
than going after the likes of you."
"UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!! I am sorry toys-r-us, but after reading
your letters to Roadkill-R-Us I (and as many of my friends
as I can talk to) will not be doing any Christmas shopping
at any of your stores in Edmonton this Year. I have never
seen anything so completely stupid in my life. Your legal
people must be desperate to keep their jobs and can't find
anything better to do. Well, keep up this silliness and they
won't even have shop lifters to prosecute as there will be
nobody in your stores to steal anything.
I am hereby calling for a World-wide boycott of all
Companies tied to the tail of that Giraffe."
Added to page Nov. 24
"This ToysRUs thing is the most absurd situation I have seen
all year. I would send this to all the net magazines, and
then proceed to ignore any further letters from them."
"When you talk about ``playing Geoffrey's fibula,'' I assume
that means AFTER you've run him over and peeled him off your
tires?"
"After having discussed it with the family, wife and kids, age 10, 12
and 18. We will no longer shop at or support toys-r-us. I cannot see
where they are getting there nose bent out of shape. A recipe for
the giraffe would be appropriate, but he is probably not edible.
Keep up the good work at the cafe."
"My suggestion, Roadkill-M-We is possibly also too close to their
name to work. I don't know whether the blame belongs to
companies acting weird or lawyers being their normal selves,
but this is one of lots of examples of laws we don't need
invented to provide work for lawyers. I think the best
solution to law problems would be to automatically issue
law degrees and admission to the state bar for everyone
as they successfully graduate from third grade. Then, when
everyone over the age of ten has a law degree and can
practice law, lots of these ridiculous laws and lawsuits
would have very little reason for existing."
"Don't even think about changing your name. RRU is great.
TRU has no claim to this name. 1. Their trademark deals
with toys and other stuff. They have no claim to the sale
(I know you don't sell anything but your name could imply
that you do) of products like roadkills. 2. There are
other ???-R-Us out there that cover different products.
TRU trademark does not cover all ???-R-US names. 3. Let
them sue. Until they do they have done nothing wrong.
Afterward, they could be nailed with a criminal offense like
malicious prosecution (depends on facts & jurisdiction). If
you can't find a probono atty I will help (I am a law student.)"
"The giraffe is a very intelligent animal, as it has the ability
to run a successful chain of childrens toy shops . I would like
to know how ... a giraffe landed the job in the first place .
Is Mr Giraffe using his position in his shoppes to infiltrate
the minds of these vulnerable little dudes he employs, and why
does he only have 5 year old dwarfs?"
"Have you been on the net as rru for 7 years?
Have you demanded they provide proof they had planned
their Web page before they contacted you? (hmmm...)"
"Do NOT buckle under the pressure! I'm a parent who ends up
spending a lot of dough at Toys-R-Us. If they do actually
force you to change their name, I'll personally post this
on my Web Server and they can deal with me! I'm an ISP in
Northeast Iowa and believe you are in the right.
If there is anything I can do to help, just holler!"
"I live in a part of Texas that unfortunately has a lot
of AMBULANCE CHASERS. It kind of looks to me that this
whole RRU thing can be contributed in part to this type
of sleeze that infects our great country. I strongly feel
any American deserves the right to express himself or herself
in any means possible - this includes calling his company a
name that he likes.
Now a days people are looking to sue anybody for whatever
reason, no matter how stupid or trivial the situation, and
all for the acquisition of power and money.
I say stick to your guns and let them make a fool of them-
selves in a court of law, if there is any true justice
left in this country of ours."
"Hi, my company name is STRIPES 'R' US. I e-mailed toys r us
asking about the legal stuff, because my R is backwards. All
they sent me was a mouse pad from toy r us. I have since
talked to a lawyer he said as long as I was not in the same
market, i.e. selling toys, I am OK."
"I just can't believe this ... how incredibly asinine on
the part of TRU. Oh well, what can you expect from lawyers.
I hope you get to keep RRU."
"I work for a company called Spyrus (Secure paPYRUS is the
derivation). We got a letter from TRU much like you did.
What a bunch of ninnies."
"Silly, silly, silly,....
The spatula city thang would (IMHO) get you in more
hot water than the toys-B-us thang!!!"
NOTE: Spatula City is not officially affiliated with RRU,
though that would be fine! I think Stefan is doing an awesome
job.
"Do whatever you can legally to [fix] those toy-pushin-[jerks] !
God is on your side my friend."
"You do not know me but I`m pulling for you guys.
I think that it is sad when a company has to try to
sue another company just because of an 'r'. I think
that you should keep the name and beat up Geoffrey."
"Are they going to sue all X-R-Us businesses? Wichita, Kansas
has no Toys-R-Us but a Bugs-R-Us (pest control). Can they
persecute one business without persecuting all businesses
that would taint their saintly name?"
No, they cannot. They do appear to be after everyone with
anything like `-R-Us' in their name, unless they license
the name from Geoffrey, Inc, and pay Geoffrey some bucks!
[RRU]
[TRU vs RRU Page]
[Letters Index]
[Out of the Blue!]
[An Incredulous Reply]
[Lightning Strikes Twice]
[here]
[A Slap to the Head]
[They Think They Won]
[Newer Responses]
Last updated: 25 October 2001
Copyright 1995-2001 Roadkills-R-Us, Austin, TX.
All rights preserved, jellied, or jammed.
All giraffe images based on an image courtesy of
Philip Greenspun.
Gratefully used with permission.
Roadkills-R-Us and RRU are trademarks of
Miles O'Neal
<meo@rru.com>.
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