LL Bean has filed suit against a software company that is putting pop-up ads that offer coupons to competitors stores on the Bean website. The software company, Gator.com Corp, claims that it has a right to send these pop-ups to any customers who use its Ewallet spy-ware. Bean obviously disagrees, saying that most people using the spy-ware dont even know it is on their computer, calling it “poaching” and “parasitic”.
Bean contacted both Gator.com and the competitors whose coupons were being offered Eddie Bauer, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney, Atkins and Gevalia. Bauer asked Gator.com to stop the pop-ups, but the other companies declined to comment until they had seen the lawsuit. Bean feels that the ads “appropriated the goodwill” of their trademark and created customer confusion. The case is currently pending a jurisdictional decision.
“We feel, in principle, it's a trademark infringement and, if left unchecked, it does pose a considerable threat to the value of our brand and how people feel about our brand,” a LLB spokesman told a local paper.
In other news, L.L. Bean is lobbying the U.S. Department of Commerce to establish a foreign trade zone near its headquarters in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine area. The legislation would enable manufacturers that import raw materials or export finished goods to save on duties and processing fees.
“One of the handicaps of doing business in the state of Maine is transportation costs,” Martin Eisenstein, counsel for L.L. Bean, told a local paper. He continued, saying that this legislation could “level the playing field for L.L. Bean.”
Bean also announced that it will be expanding its Waterville, ME call center, which currently employs around 700 people during peak times. The company expects the site to be chosen within a month, and operations to start by next summer.
