Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 19:15:09 -0700
Reply-To: Jim Arnott <jrasite@EONI.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Arnott <jrasite@EONI.COM>
Organization: http://WetWesties.org
Subject: Re: [WetWesties] Special Announcement from VwoA and VWC
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
There has been much discussion regarding the veracity of this e-mail. I
went to the website and looked. If it's a fake, it's an extremely
elaborate one. I dropped them a note. We'll see what they say.
Smells sweet to me.
Jim
> Subj: Special Announcement from Volkswagen of America and Canada!
> Date: 5/17/2002 2:44:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time
> From: vwlicense@ipprotector.com
>
> This e-mail address has been identified as belonging to a Volkswagen Club
> or Enthusiast and Volkswagen in the United States and Canada has some
> great news we would like to share with you.
>
> As you may have heard, Volkswagen of America, Inc. and Volkswagen Canada
> Inc. are endeavoring to break into a new arena of licensing! In just a
> few weeks, we will announce the formation of our Trademark Internet
> Licensing Program for Volkswagen vehicle enthusiasts and clubs in the
> United States and Canada. Visit us online at
> http://vwlicense.ipprotector.com.
>
> -An Enthusiast: Any individual desiring to promote their interest in
> Volkswagen products, the company and its heritage on a website in a NON-
> COMMERCIAL manner.
>
> -A Club: Any NON-COMMERCIAL organization that has its primary objective
> a sharing of interests in Volkswagen products, the company and its
> heritage on a website, in newsletters, at meetings and events in a NON-
> COMMERCIAL manner.
>
> -NON-COMMERCIAL: Having no functionality to allow for revenue to be
> generated at the site including, but not limited to, commercial links,
> advertising of any kind, and shopping carts.
>
> Why do we need to do this?
>
> Volkswagen of America, Inc. ("VWoA") and Volkswagen Canada Inc. ("VWC")
> are the exclusive US and Canadian importers of cars manufactured by
> Volkswagen AG ("VWAG") and are responsible for protecting trademarks
> associated with those cars. The Volkswagen logo; "VW;" the
> words "Volkswagen;" "Beetle," "New Beetle," "Bug," all other Volkswagen
> vehicle names; the New Beetle logo and the Volkswagen advertising slogans
> (such as "Drivers wanted") are all registered trademarks or service
> marks. (This is only a partial list - we didn't want to bore you right
> off.) None of these items may be used without the express written
> consent of VWoA or VWC in the U.S. and Canada. (What you may use in other
> places depends on the laws of that country.) If a trademark owner fails
> to protect its rights to its trademarks, it risks losing those rights.
> Did you know that "escalator" was once a registered trademark? And so
> were "aspirin", "trampoline", "refrigerator", "yo yo" and many more! But
> they failed to take precautions that would have helped them have a long
> and prosperous life as registered trademarks.
>
> You may want to take a look at our Trademark Enforcement Program Policy
> Statement (http://vwlicense.ipprotector.com/policy.html) and our
> Trademark Usage Guide (http://vwlicense.ipprotector.com/usage.html) which
> both include more information regarding our need for this program and
> offer guidance with respect to the proper use of our trademarks.
>
> What will a license involve?
>
> Use of any VWAG, VWoA or VWC trademarks is restricted to certain types of
> use, more clearly outlined in our General Terms and Conditions
> (http://vwlicense.ipprotector.com/gtc.html), and requires our written
> permission in the form of a legal agreement, the Draft Club Limited
> Trademark License Agreement (http://vwlicense.ipprotector.com/club.html)
> or the Draft Enthusiast Limited Trademark License Agreement
> (http://vwlicense.ipprotector.com/ent.html). (These are the U.S.
> documents, but the Canadian documents will be basically the same.)
> These legally binding documents will grant legal permission to
> enthusiasts or clubs to utilize our trademarks in a manner which does not
> infringe upon our trademarks or is not counter to our brand image.
> In order to comply with applicable trademark licensing laws, these
> License Agreements will be continuously monitored to insure their terms
> have not been violated.
>
> Your job.
>
> If you think you may be interested in being a part of our licensed
> family, now is your time to preview our documents and provide your
> opinion prior to the launch of the program. Now, although we will read
> through all the comments we may receive, you must understand that we may
> not be able to implement every suggestion. We will, however, do our best
> to make this program as user friendly and acceptable as we can! Just
> click here (http://vwlicense.ipprotector.com/feedback.asp) to send us
> your thoughts.
>
> Thank you for your time and interest in our products!
>
> _________________________________________________
>
> You are receiving this email because you either asked to receive
> information from Volkswagen of America, Inc. (VWoA) regarding VWoA's
> Trademark Licensing Program for Enthusiasts and Clubs, or you were
> identified as a Volkswagen Club Member or Enthusiast and may find this
> information useful. If you would like to be removed from this list,
> please reply to this email with "REMOVE" in the subject line. In
> addition, your email address HAS NOT been added to any marketing or sales
> email lists, so you will not get promotional emails from anybody else at
> VWoA. Thank you for your time.
>
>
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