College of the Desert sends cease and desist letter over lookalike website to candidate’s husband
College of the Desert is calling for the removal of what the school calls a “spoof” website for alleged copyright and trademark infringement of its actual website.
“College of the Desert became aware of a website that is spoofing our traditional CollegeoftheDesert.edu website through a Google alert,” said Nicholas Robles, spokesperson for COD.
The website is CollegeoftheDesert.com, a website focusing on the upcoming trustee board election.
Attorneys representing COD have served a cease and desist letter asking for this website to be taken down.
According to the letter, that site uses the palm tree and building sepia background belonging to COD.
Taking a side-by-side look, you can see CollegeoftheDesert.edu, the school’s site on the left and on the right is CollegeoftheDesert.com.
COD alleges the owner of the website is in violation of state and federal law, including, but not limited to the Trademark Act of 1946.
It also alleges the owner’s actions violate the California false advertising law, saying in the letter, “You are misleading the public into thinking that you are connected with, or represent” the school, a governmental entity.
Further, the college alleges the owner’s purchase and use of a misleading domain name is cybersquatting and is a violation of federal law. COD’s letter is addressed to Chris Parman, husband and campaign manager to former COD president Joel Kinnamon.
“How do you know who is behind the website?” Jennifer asked Robles.
“College of the Desert’s attorneys did some research and they were able to determine who was the owner of this website and when it was acquired and that is all in the cease and desist letter that was sent to the individual,” Robles said.
News Channel 3 has not independently verified that Parman operates the site, which features video and content that are critical of some board of trustee members.
But when we reached out to Parman about this accusation he said:
"I believe the College of the Desert is infringing on my first amendment constitutional rights to discuss and even criticize local government. Their allegations are unfounded and I believe they are part of the Board’s ongoing politically-motivated effort to harm my husband, Joel Kinnamon, and me. My attorney will provide an appropriate response soon."
In response, COD reiterated their stance
COD has demanded that Mr. Parman cease operating the infringing website, cease using references to COD, cease using COD’s intellectual property, cease using photography owned by COD and transfer ownership of the infringing domain name."
COD has given the owner of the website until October 28 to comply with the cease and desist letter.
