DENVER — A federal magistrate judge today paved the way for operators of IntenseCash to add Media Revenue as a defendant in a search engine optimization trademark infringement suit.
Today's order to allow Media Revenue as a defendant follows a move that some might construe as a legal blunder.
Media Revenue attorney Thomas Sadaka this morning filed an emergency motion to allow a telephonic hearing after counsel told the court that they incurred "a mix-up in communications and scheduling difficulties” resulting in his being “unable to secure travel to Denver for today’s hearing.”
Phoenix-based attorney Chad Belville, who represents parent company BluMedia and its IntenseCash division, challenged the emergency motion, claiming he showed up for court, and that there are "questions about the truth and veracity of the pending emergency motion.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Boyd Boland agreed with Belville's argument and said a telephonic hearing wouldn't do.
"The emergency motion is disingenuous and a transparent attempt by Media Revenue’s counsel to force my hand to allow him to appear at today’s hearing by telephone, presumably to save the expense of traveling to Colorado to argue his own pending motion," Boland said in an order today.
Siding with IntenseCash, Boland gave the company the green light to add Media Revenue as a defendant. IntenseCash already has filed a motion for default judgment in the case.
"Now Media Revenue will become a defendant, and everything they have is at risk," Belville told XBIZ. "Before this stunt, the only thing they had to lose was the domains. Bad move, Media Revenue."
Boland gave IntenseCash until Aug. 13 to file a first amended complaint adding Media Revenue to the suit. Media Revenue would have two weeks to respond to the complaint.
Media Revenue jumped into the suit in January, saying it owns some of the 90 domains that are at center of litigation.
IntenseCash, which operates BrokeStraightBoys.com and BrokeStraightGuys.com, filed the infringement suit in April 2011, claiming that the operators of DeeCash, through BrokeAssBoys.com and other sites, incorporated the trademarked term “broke straight boys” into its SEO efforts in a scheme to poach prospective gay porn surfers.
IntenseCash filed a default motion to the court, saying they've served defendants in the case, including officers at DeeCash and affiliated units TripleXCash and GayGravy without any responses.
In December, Media Revenue — an operator of a string of tube sites, affiliate programs and traffic networks — filed its own motion to intervene in the case "to file an answer and potential counterclaim."
In court filings, Media Revenue claims that "even a cursory review of the diverse domain names included in the complaint will reveal a total dissimilarity between listed names and IntenseCash's mark."
Belville earlier told the court that when IntenseCash filed the original complaint, Media Revenue was not a registered owner of any of the names.
"Media Revenue does not state in its motion to intervene just when it acquired ownership of the domains and domain names, but an email discovered by plaintiff, purportedly from defendants, claims a sale took place before March 15, 2011," Belville's said in earlier court papers. "If Media Revenue did in fact acquire the defendant business prior to March 15, 2011 and could not take title to the domain names, then waiting until December 2011 to file an appearance in this case is not timely and the delay should be explained by Media Revenue.
"Media Revenue petitioned the court to intervene in this case," Belville said. "It appears that Media Revenue purchased the Gay Gravy program, so Media Revenue should be a defendant in this case, not an intervenor. If they bought the program, they bought the problems they knew or should have known about it!"
IntenseCash claims that it has spent more than $250,000 in purchasing Google Adwords search terms and that it has been the victor in four arbitration decisions involving alleged intellectual property theft that allowed the company to transfer domains in their own name.
The list of domain names alleged in the suit to have used the search term “broke straight boys” include the following: BearsFuckBoys.com, PridePornPass.com, 15Tops1Bottom.com, MallTwinks.com, RealMaleSexScandals.com, ExposedBoyfriends.com, ThugsonWhiteBoys.com, POVBoys.com, BrokeAssBoys.com, MyTeacherTaughtMe.com, DadsFuckBoys.com, AsianBoysInPain.com, StraightFuckFest.com, CreamFilledTwinks.com, CoverHisFace.com, TwinkPopstars.com, RealHardBarebacking.com, TwinkStakeItBig.com, TwinksInPain.com, StraightInternal.com, PantyAssBoys.com, StraightCumSwap.com, BrazilBus.com, BrazilBlow.com, PrideVault.com, StudPay.com, PrideMov.com, TwinkMov.com, GayDownloadKey.com, BiArchive.com, ShemaleTitan.com, DarkBeef.com, LeatherBang.com, DirtyThirtyClub.com, StraightGroupSex.com, TwinkStakeBigCock.com, BadBoyPass.com, RealTwinkBoyfriends.com, LickingBoys.com, TwinkFuckFest.com, TwinksFilledWithCum.com, StretchHisAss.com, CumToMyMouth.com, Harry-Forman.com, ToonGuys.com, ChilloutBoys.com, CumInToMyAss.com, QSolo.com, PopBoys.com, TrannyBoss.com, AllTrannyPass.com, ExtremeTrannyPass.com, TrannyModelPass.com, BangedbyTrannies.com, SuperStarTrannies.com, 18YearOldLadyboys.com, CumCoveredLadyboys.com, LadyboysGetFucked.com, RealTrannyPickups.com, MyTrannyGF.com, YoungAsianTrannies.com, ShemaleChamps.com, ShemaleGulpers.com, 18YearOldTrannies.com, TrannyOffice.com, TrannyAssAssault.com, CreamFilledShemales.com, ShemaleJobs.com, PeeOneShemales.com, ShemalesGetFisted.com, RubysRod.com, LilPaloma.com, TrannySource.com, GayGravy.com and others.
IntenseCash seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages, as well as "corrective advertising necessary to alleviate any existing or lingering confusion" over the allegations. The suit also seeks the transfer of the domain names.
Sadaka, Media Revenue's attorney did not immediately respond to XBIZ this afternoon for comment on the case.
