Foes of Ahmanson can keep their Internet Website
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

Save Open Space (SOS), the Agoura Hills grassroots organization fighting the Ahmanson Ranch development, won the rights last week to keep using a Website that contains Ahmanson’s name.

SOS formed the Website (www.ahmanson.org) in 1999 to oppose Ahmanson’s proposed 3,050-home development in eastern Ventura County.

Seattle-based Washington Mutual, Ahmanson’s parent company, filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) last summer to prevent Save Open Space (SOS) from using the domain name.

WIPO ruled against Washington Mutual and said SOS could keep the Web address.

"We’re very, very pleased with the outcome. It’s a major victory," said Mary Wiesbrock, director of Save Open Space. "They upheld the right of free speech."

Washington Mutual said the Ahmanson name is protected under United States trademark law, but SOS denied any trademark rights existed. SOS said the word "Ahmanson" is widely used by third parties and that a recent Internet search uncovered 3,900 references to the name.

H.F. Ahmanson & Company was formed in 1927 and became part of Washington Mutual in 1998.

Washington Mutual officials said the company was in the process of developing a Website for the Ahmanson Land Company, but that Save Open Space "usurped" the domain name.

"This … prevents Ahmanson from capitalizing on the public recognition and goodwill associated with its Ahmanson trade name and Ahmanson Ranch mark, and uses such recognition and goodwill to harm Ahmanson."

The complaint said SOS used the domain name to "misleadingly divert consumers or to tarnish the trademark or service mark at issue."

WIPO, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, ruled the domain name isn’t "identical or confusingly similar" to the mark used by Washington Mutual. WIPO officials said Washington Mutual didn’t register the name and that SOS didn’t use the name in bad faith.

"We believe that we have a strong trademark case," said Tim McGarry, a Washington Mutual vice president. "We respectfully disagree with their decision."

McGarry said he wanted to examine the ruling before deciding whether to pursue the case in federal court.

Both sides will now turn their attention to a new hurdle in the dispute: A supplemental environmental impact report on Ahmanson Ranch that could be available for public review as early as next month.

Ventura County agreed to the new study after opponents charged the original 1992 report was inadequate and outdated.

"The permitting process remains the main focus of our energies," McGarry said. "This domain name dispute has little bearing on that."