31–40 of 228 posts
Wikipedia says that WhosHere was founded in 2008 and launched their app in 2009: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhosHere If that's the case and their app predates Who's Near Me, I have to say that the OP is probably going to lose this. The names and apps certainly do seem confusingly similar.
He mentions Lightbank is the vc, is it fair to judge them for this behavior? As an entrepreneur it does really put me off.
I stopped reading when I came across Lightbank. I've spent time in Chicago, got to know a few of those guys and companies they've funded, and have since stayed as far away as possible. Anyone in the area should do the same. Curious? Look into their deal structures.
Sounds like he made the biggest mistake by caving the first time around. If he'd stood his ground at first, maybe pointed out if there was any potential for confusion (a key point in trademark law), it was the other way around, as he was the one with an established user base and a 10-year history.
I never went to law school so there's no way I could be a lawyer, I'm just giving my thoughts on things I would do in this situation. This isn't legal advice. I sympathize with your situation and I'm sure there are a couple lessons learned here- namely that they used negotiation with email to apparently cause you to forget that there was court case pending. But saying that doesn't help you. I've been in the situation…
Seriously.
Wikipedia says that WhosHere was founded in 2008 and launched their app in 2009: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhosHere If that's the case and their app predates Who's Near Me, I have to say that the OP is probably going to lose this. The names and apps certainly do seem confusingly similar.
As a lawyer (who doesn't have anywhere near enough facts to give you anything close to competent advice), my advice is to find a lawyer to represent you. If you can't afford one, try the EFF or similar organizations. If they won't take you, find a legal clinic nearby. If you're in the bay area, you have have two of the best lawschools in the country within bicycling distance of you (UC Hastings isn't half bad either...). They have legal clinics, generally led by highly respected and knowledgeable faculty that are happy to have cases like this.
Unless you really don't want to fight this, go get a lawyer who knows what he's doing. If you don't want to spend a lot of energy, possibly a lot of time, and likely some money, just roll over now. But, don't half-ass it and try to do this yourself. By blowing at least two deadlines, you've already shown you're not up for it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In spite of only having one side of the story I'm going to decide to choose my ground and ask this: What if we started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the legal fees to counter-sue this company? The precedence set in a success would be profitable to the builders of the startup community. And I'd sleep better at night.
You want to completely buy in to one side's story without any context or response from the other side, then start a Kickstarter to fund a legal assault upon that company? Really? Not only are you surprisingly easily manipulated, apparently, don't you have better things to hack on?
Disclaimer: I'm a random HN reader who has done work in the area of location aware computing. I have no connection with either party.