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PepsiCo Seeks Return Of Tropicanafield.com

By NATALIE SHEPHERD nshepherd@wfla.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 18, 2008

TAMPA - For the past seven years, Chris Dunne has owned the tropicanafield.com domain name.

"I'm a huge Rays fan," he said. "I bought the name because I thought it was cool to be part of a baseball team, you know?"

It turns out, though, that PepsiCo Beverages and Foods doesn't think it's so cool.
PepsiCo owns Tropicana Products Inc. The company contacted Dunne in September to get the name.

"I'm just trying to make some extra money, and then Pepsi contacted me demanding the domain name back," Dunne said.

Dunne received a letter Sept. 18 from Janet Silverberg, chief trademark counsel for PepsiCo.

In the letter, Silverberg tells Dunne that "unauthorized use of our trademark constitutes trademark infringement and unfair competition as it may mislead consumers into believing that your site is associated with the stadium or our company."

Dunne, who lives in Dunedin, doesn't have any affiliation with the Rays. He started using the Web site in April as an advertising site for local businesses.

"I don't even want to sell it to them. That's not the point of trying to make a bunch of money. I'm just trying to do a legitimate business and help the people of St. Pete," Dunne said.

Dunne started his business after a restaurant he opened failed and his young daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. He said the medical bills now total more than $70,000.

Paul McGrady, a lawyer with the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, sent a letter to Dunne on Tuesday, demanding he stop using tropicanafield.com by Friday.

Dunne said he does not have an attorney and is not sure how he will respond.

Calls to Pepsi's attorneys were not returned.

Largo-based lawyer David Ellis, who has written an article about domain names, said Dunne is a "cybersquatter."

"You can't adopt other people's trademarks in your domain name if they have ownership of a trademark and you have no legitimate ownership to it," he said.

News Channel 8 reporter Jeff Patterson contributed to this report. Reporter Natalie Shepherd can be reached at (813) 225-2703.

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