Facebook Relationship Status: It’s Complicated

You may recall we mentioned at the conclusion of “Broken Hartz Really Like This”, we were sorting out some details with Facebook.

Here’s what’s been going on:

 

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“Re: Re: Re: Re: Trademark Notification Complaint: #118834674907699

On Monday, March 19, 2012 at 1:21 PM, Broken Hartz wrote:

Thank you so much for understanding the sensitive nature of this matter and allowing us to maintain our anonymity.

In moving forward, may we ask the account Facebook.com/BrokenHartzPets be transferred to us so we may begin to spread our important message through our rightful Facebook page?

Additionally, since we are the rightful owners of the Broken Hartz/Broken Hartz Pets servicemark, we feel it is our right to know what individual or corporation was guilty of the infringement. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again. We hope to be on Facebook soon!

Sincerely,

Broken Hartz
Facebook”

 

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“Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Trademark Notification Complaint: #118834674907699

On Monday, March 19, 2012 at 1:49 PM, The Facebook Team wrote:

Hi,

For policy reasons, we are not able to grant your request for administrative access to this Facebook Page and cannot provide identifying information about current or previous admins. We regret any inconvenience.

Please let us know whether you wish for the Page to remain disabled.

Thank you,

[Facebook Team Member]
User Operations
Facebook”

 

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“Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Trademark Notification Complaint: #118834674907699

On Monday, March 19, 2012 at 2:57 PM, Broken Hartz wrote:

Hello again,

Firstly, let us repeat how overjoyed we are to hear of the Company’s decision. We wholeheartedly thank Facebook.

We wish to follow up, however, on the denial of our request to be granted use of our rightful page. We feel it unfair to discover we will never be allowed to use our protected servicemark simply because someone unjustly infringed on our servicemark before we could claim what is rightfully ours. To illustrate the point: does this mean Disney would not have been allowed to use Facebook.com/Disney if some unscrupulous individual squatted on the page first?

Additionally, we are stressed to discover that while the infringing party is commonly handed all personal details regarding a complainant, Facebook denies the complainant’s right to that information when the complaint is found to be valid. We firmly believe we have a right to know who had infringed on our servicemark.

We are strongly considering legal action against those who would violate our servicemark but, in order to do so, we need to know who they are.

We request Facebook to reconsider this additional request.

Lastly, if Facebook decides to deny these requests, we affirm our wish for the offending account to remain disabled permanently.

Sincerely,

Broken Hartz”

 

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“Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Trademark Notification Complaint: #118834674907699

On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 5:09 PM, The Facebook Team wrote:

Hi,

Unfortunately, we cannot make any changes to a Page’s administrative privileges. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thanks for contacting Facebook,

[Facebook Team Member]
User Operations
Facebook”

 

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“Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Trademark Notification Complaint: #118834674907699

On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 7:31 PM, Broken Hartz wrote:

Thank you. We are disappointed, but respect Facebook’s decision and will no longer argue this point.

To finalize this matter, may we ask what the final decision is regarding our request for details regarding the infringing party? As mentioned previously, this is of utmost importance to us in the event we wish to pursue legal action against those who would violate our organization’s servicemark, especially considering this action has caused permanent unavailability of our rightful servicemark use on Facebook.

Sincerely,
Broken Hartz”

 

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“Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Trademark Notification Complaint: #118834674907699

On Tuesday, March 26, 2012 at 11:39 AM, The Facebook Team wrote:

Hi,

In order to further assist you with your request, we will need to receive a valid subpoena or court order. Additionally, please be aware that there are situations where we may be unable to retrieve the information that you have requested due to technical limitations.

You should contact a lawyer or your local law enforcement agency and discuss this issue with them. If you decide to pursue legal action, please have the lawyer or officer contact us at the following address:

http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=legal_inquiries

Once they contact us, we will be able to communicate with them regarding the issue.

Thanks,

[Facebook Team Member]
User Operations
Facebook”

 

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“Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Trademark Notification Complaint: #118834674907699

On Tuesday, March 26, 2012 at 10:06 PM, Broken Hartz wrote:

Thank you very much.

We are disappointed to hear Facebook has seen fit to deny our right to know the infringing party’s identity, in the absence of a subpoena or court order.

We wish to thank you for your time and for shutting down the infringing account, as that was the most important action. We are happy to be able to proceed with using the powerful communication services of Facebook, free from infringement.

In moving forward, we have noted your requirements and simply ask you to file the pertinent information for as long as possible, in the event we move forward with legal action.

We take this matter very seriously and, though we are already well aware of the infringing party, the crucial evidence on file with Facebook will be invaluable to supporting our claims.

We already have evidence from Pinterest of Hartz being the guilty party infringing on Pinterest.com/brokenhartzpets, but without actual evidence from Facebook it will be difficult, though not impossible, for an organization such as ours to fight a multi-billion dollar army of unscrupulous lawyers.

Sincerely,

Broken Hartz Pets
Facebook.com/SuperBrokenHartzPets”

 

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There you have it folks!

Please like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/SuperBrokenHartzPets.

We’ve been working on a great Hartz Mountain Corporation timeline, which we are currently expanding. The new Facebook interface has been glitchy and we lost a lot of good content, but we expect to work through it.

By the way, Hartz:

We are glad Facebook shut you down, but it would seem your advertising dollars have caused them to provide what you view as protection.

We know you read our blog and we wish to make clear, in the absence of any evidence from Facebook proving otherwise, Broken Hartz will continue to assume you to be guilty, given your history of infringing on our servicemark and the fact this infringement ran concurrently with your Pinterest offense.

If you wish to prove this is not the case, we strongly encourage you to throw more of your dirty money Facebook’s way and persuade them to release the information that would clear your name.

Or, would there be an obvious problem with that?

=^..^=

 

Even More Pinteresting

 

The Broken Hartz juggernaut continues to make a molehill out of Hartz Mountain.

This beautiful little email found its way to our account today from the good folks at Pinterest.com, regarding our infringement claim against Hartz:

 

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“[Pinterest] Trademark Complaint ID #1580153031

On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 2:12 PM, [Pinterest Community Manager] wrote:

Hi,

The username “brokenhartzpets” is available now.

If you choose to change your username on your existing account, go to https://pinterest.com/settings when you’re logged in to edit your username. Then click Save Profile when you’re finished.

Hope that helps!

[Pinterest Community Manager]

 

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Readers, it appears the scoreboard is in need of another update:

Broken Hartz – 3

Hartz Mountain Corporation – 0

The page is now populated with excellent BH content but, we’ll always have the screenshot below to enjoy Hartz Mountain Corporation’s shame!

 

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Here's what happens when you mess with Broken Hartz! This page has now been populated with all things BH but, thanks to this screenshot, we'll always be able to have a good laugh at Hartz.

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Broken Hartz wishes to thank all those who have helped our mission. We love our Twitter Followers, led by our tenacious #BHambassador.

Every time our #BHwarriors speak up, we watch our blog views rise.

Our message would never have spread as far or as fast without your support.

Broken Hartz is humbled by the level of devotion you have shown to the mission but, to be fair, our #BHwarriors haven’t done all the work.

Your criminal acts continue to amplify our message, Hartz.

Your attempts to silence us have forced internet giants Twitter and Facebook, as well as the quickly-growing Pinterest, to listen to our message. Their collective response of support shows the tide is turning.

You are a monster, Hartz, and we have already addressed how you will be dealt with.

Broken Hartz does not speak in hyperbole.

Our goal to shut down the multi-billion dollar beast that is Hartz Mountain Corporation is bold but, together with the public, we will achieve it.

Make no mistake.

=^..^=

 

Broken Hartz (Really) Likes This!

 

Good Evening Readers,

We apologize for interrupting Truth Week, but this popped into our inbox today:

 

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“Re: Re: Re: Trademark Notification Complaint: #118834674907699

On Monday, March 19, 2012 at 11:55 AM, The Facebook Team wrote:

Hi,

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We have removed or disabled access to the third-party or user-generated content you have reported to us for violating our Statement of Rights & Responsibilities.

If you have additional infringements to report, please submit a new claim using our form at:

https://www.facebook.com/help/contact_us.php?id=208282075858952

If you have any further questions, please visit the Intellectual Property section of our Help Center at the following address:

http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=439

Thanks for contacting Facebook,

[Facebook Team Member]
User Operations
Facebook”

 

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Now that’s how you file an infringement claim!

Broken Hartz applauds Facebook’s decision to not only shut down this offending page, but for allowing us to maintain anonymity in the process even though this goes against their normal policy.

Adding this to our Twitter victory, it would appear the score is:

Broken Hartz – 2
Hartz Mountain Corporation – 0

We are sorting out some details with the Facebook team, but you can expect to “like” Broken Hartz on Facebook shortly!

Please join us on Twitter tonight as @BrokenHartzPets and all our #BHwarriors pop some #champagne at the #BHparty and send many thanks to @Facebook!

Attention Hartz Mountain Corporation:

Are you starting to get it?

You have no idea what you have come up against.

We will stop you.

We already are.

=^..^=

 

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UPDATE: Click the following link to find out what details were being sorted out in our Complicated Facebook Relationship Status.

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Very Pinteresting

 

Hartz’ brazen attempts to censor our message has just gone a step further.

Early in the morning, on 3/16/12, Broken Hartz affiliates stumbled upon this:

 

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Pinterest.com/BrokenHartzPets, shortly before Pinterest updated their service on 3/16/12.

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Broken Hartz was very fortunate to catch this when we did because shortly after grabbing this screenshot, Pinterest updated. The Hartz logo is still visible, but not as clearly as it had been.

 

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Pinterest.com/BrokenHartzPets, after Pinterest updated on 3/16/12.

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With this most-recent offense, Hartz has gone on full-tilt, boldly attempting to associate their trademark with the Broken Hartz/Broken Hartz Pets servicemark. This action comes right on the heels of Hartz crying to Twitter we were guilty of confusing the public and legally requiring us to state the lack of affiliation between our respective organizations.

Readers, Hartz’ response regarding our claims has been made.

We are right and Hartz’ only options are to try and bury the truth or cease operation due to overwhelming public backlash.

Hartz already has a Pinterest.com account. You’ll notice Hartz doesn’t bother doing anything with its official Pinterest page either:

 

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Pinterest.com/HartzPets, shortly before Pinterest updated on 3/16/12.

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For reference, here is Pinterest.com/HartzPets, after the update:

 

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Pinterest.com/HartzPets, after Pinterest updated on 3/16/12.

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Thankfully, Pinterest has a friendlier complaint interface than Facebook although, it too asks for personal details. We feel this matter will be more cut and dry than the Facebook offense, seeing as how Hartz was stupid enough to actually put their logo on the offending page. Plus, Broken Hartz is already on Pinterest:

 

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Pinterest.com/BrokenHartz, shortly before Pinterest updated on 3/16/12.

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Here is Pinterest.com/BrokenHartz, after Pinterest updated. You’ll notice our mark didn’t get screwed up like Hartz’ did. BH has just got it like that:

 

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Pinterest.com/BrokenHartz, after Pinterest updated on 3/16/12.

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If you’re ever in Pinterest town, check us out. We take a different approach on Pinterest, which some may find more agreeable to our guerrilla warfare tactics on Twitter.

This one’s going to cost you dearly, Hartz.

Your answer is clear.

Your attempts to contain us are failing.

You have lost.

=^..^=

 

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UPDATE: HARTZ HAS REMOVED THEIR TRADEMARK FROM PINTEREST.COM/BROKENHARTZPETS.

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Pinterest.com/BrokenHartzPets, after Hartz saw our very "Pinteresting" post this morning (3/16/12)

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After seeing our post on the morning of 3/16/12, Hartz scrambled to hide what they had done by removing the offending Hartz trademark from the Pinterest.com/BrokenHartzPets page.

With so many to choose from at the moment, Broken Hartz is not entirely sure which moron is currently steering Hartz Mountain Corporation’s sinking ship, but whoever it is seems to be forgetting the matter of our screenshots.

The screenshots of your offense have been submitted to Pinterest in order to clearly document what you have done, Hartz.

Stay tuned.

 

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UPDATE: Pinterest responded four days later.

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@War

As mentioned in a previous post, one of our strongest weapons of peaceful protest against Hartz Mountain Corporation has been Twitter.

Twitter has a fascinating ability to empower the public like never before and, because of this; Hartz and its social media representatives, Banyan Branch, have been trying their laughably best to figure out a way to stop us from using this powerful tool.

For that reason, we were not surprised to find this sitting in our email:

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“#4780363 Message from Twitter Support: ‘Hello, We have received a complaint from the trademark owner that your account, @BrokenHar…’

[Twitter T&S Team Member], Mar 06 02:19pm (PST):

Hello,

We have received a complaint from the trademark owner that your account, @BrokenHartzPets, may be violating Twitter’s trademark policy, specifically the section regarding news feed/commentary/fan accounts.

In order to avoid potential confusion, we strongly suggest that you edit your account to comply with Twitter’s guidelines for news feed/commentary/fan accounts, outlined here:

http://support.twitter.com/entries/18367

In particular, please review and make changes to these aspects of your profile to make it clear that your account is not affiliated with the trademarked brand, Hartz Pets:

Username
Account name
URL
Bio
Background/Avatar
Location

You are free to continue operating your news feed/commentary/fan account so long as you make it clear it is not affiliated with the brand. However, please understand that your account is subject to permanent suspension if it is found to further violate our Rules regarding trademark or fails to comply with the suggested edits.

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

Thank you,

[Twitter T&S Team Member]
Twitter Trust and Safety”

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Here is the response from Broken Hartz to Twitter:

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“RE: #4780363 Message from Twitter Support: ‘Hello, We have received a complaint from the trademark owner that your account, @BrokenHar…’

Broken Hartz, Mar 11:15pm (EST):

Dear [Twitter T@S Team Member],

Thank you for contacting Broken Hartz (@BrokenHartzPets).

We apologize for not catching this email sooner, but our organization is small and we get quite a bit of mail.

We assure you Broken Hartz seeks to act in accordance with all applicable laws at all times, as well as Twitter’s Terms of Service, and would like to address your concerns.

The Broken Hartz mission was began in direct protest to the corrupt actions of Hartz Mountain Corporation. Members of our organization experienced an issue with a Hartz flea product in mid-January. We greatly value the Twitter service and how it has provided the opportunity to reach other consumers and educate them about the dangers of Hartz Mountain Corporation’s products.

While Broken Hartz acknowledges we have exercised Nominative use of Hartz Mountain Corporation’s trademark, in accordance with Trademark/Servicemark law, there is an allowance for Nominative use.

• Nominative use occurs when use of a term is necessary for purposes of identifying another producer’s product, not the user’s own product.
• It is crucial to the Broken Hartz mission to ensure the public knows the information provided directly correlates to Hartz Mountain Corporation and its dangerous products.
• Hartz Mountain Corporation is not readily identifiable without using the identifier, “Hartz” or, in the case of Twitter, “HartzPets”.
• We have only used as much of Hartz’ trademark as is reasonably necessary to identify it. Our servicemark neither copies the font nor uses a similar font style, the orange color nor the rounded rectangle in the background that constitute the Hartz Mountain Corporation trademark.
• There is clearly no suggestion of endorsement or sponsorship by Hartz Mountain Corporation.
• We are not profiting in any way from the Nominative use of the Hartz trademark.
• We believe we have fair, Nominative use of Hartz’ trademark as this is protected by our first amendment rights to protest. Our motive for creating the servicemark, Broken Hartz, and its affiliated Twitter page, @BrokenHartzPets, have been created to express customer dissatisfaction through the medium of the Internet.

Our affiliate made a complaint to Rite Aid Corporation, the distributor who sold them the Hartz product. Despite being provided numerous factual details from the EPA and others regarding the unsafe nature of these products, Rite Aid Corporation dismissed our affiliate’s claims. Throughout the course of this discussion, a document from Hartz’ Resident Veterinarian, Dr. Melinda Fernyhough, was eventually submitted to our affiliate.

This document was filled with bold lies, including lies about the FDA-approved status of Hartz’ competitor products, as well as lies about the EPA’s findings regarding their Public Advisory published in March 2010.

In response to this action, we have exercised our constitutional right to protest against this unscrupulous manufacturer. It is clear we are not affiliated with Hartz and if anyone is infringing on the other’s trademark/servicemark, it is Hartz Mountain Corporation upon us.

Hartz Mountain Corporation is cybersquatting on the following domains (You may need to enter a CAPTCHA to view these):

BrokenHartz.com
BrokenHartz.net
BrokenHartz.org

In an effort to silence our right to protest, Hartz is clearly violating our servicemark and now they seek to silence us on Twitter in an effort to continue with their negligent course of action, free from public scrutiny.

We have reviewed our Twitter account as a sign of good faith but, during this review, it was determined no changes are necessary. We feel the nature of the information provided makes it quite clear that Hartz Mountain Corporation is not affiliated with us in any way.

Please let us know if Twitter has any further questions regarding this matter.

On a final note, if anyone is using Twitter inappropriately, we feel it is Hartz Mountain Corporation.

Hartz uses Twitter to deceive the public and divert attention away from the serious dangers associated with their products. They have been known to ignore customer complaints made on Twitter, even though they are required by federal law to report all adverse events.

Here is a link to our response to Hartz Mountain Corporation’s “Executive Summary of EPA Evaluation of Spot-On Products”.

Lastly, here is a link to our affiliate’s entire correspondence with Rite Aid Corporation and Hartz Mountain Corporation.

Respectfully,

Broken Hartz”

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To this, Twitter replied:

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“RE: RE: #4780363 Message from Twitter Support: ‘Hello, We have received a complaint from the trademark owner that your account, @BrokenHar…’

[Twitter T&S Team Member], Mar 11 08:27pm (PST):

Hello,

Thanks for your cooperation. You need to modify the following setting(s) in order to avoid possible confusion going forward:

Bio: For example add “This is not affiliated with” (Hartz Mountain Corporation)

Once you have made this change, reply to this email.

Twitter’s guidelines, available here: http://support.twitter.com/entries/18367

Note, please understand that your account is subject to permanent suspension if it is found to further violate our Rules regarding trademarks.

Thanks,
[Twitter T&S Team Member]
Twitter Trust and Safety”

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We thank Twitter for reviewing the information we provided and determining a small change to our Bio was the only necessary action at this time in order for Broken Hartz to be considered in compliance.

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To that, the Broken Hartz Twitter Bio now reads:

“Hartz has legally required us to state we are not affiliated with their organization, as if there was any doubt. They kill pets. We do not. Visit our blog:”

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Are you on Twitter?

Please help us out by assuring @Twitter you are quite aware @HartzPets is not affiliated with @BrokenHartzPets, nor does Hartz approve of us telling the public the truth about Hartz’ products.

Here is a sampling of tweets we launched at Hartz in protest of this flagrant action after posting:

 

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This ugly affair just got a whole lot uglier.

=^..^=