Carlo,

Delphi has received a letter from the attorney of Robot Wars asking that no further use be made of the Robot Wars service mark on Delphi. The concern is that this use "mislead the public into believing that the site is sponsored by Robot Wars, and constitutes an infringement of the Robot Wars mark."

It is my belief that so long as the ownership of any mark is acknowledged, public discussion about the product or service is allowed, and I certainly don't think this complaint should limit your and our ability to offer this forum. I would suggest that you make appropriate changes to the forum which would prevent anyone from being mislead about its sponsorship. You may want to obtain advice from your counsel in this regard, or if you like we could obtain specific guidance from ours.

Please let me know your intent on this matter so that I can communicate with Fran M. Jacobs of Duane, Morris & Heckscher LLP, the attorney who wrote, apparently on behalf of Steven Plotnicki.

Best regards,

Bob Kvaal Senior VP Delphi Internet

Here is the email Carlo responded with:

Bob,

I will add these words to the description of the forum: "Robot Wars is a registered trademark of RWI. The robot wars forum is not affiliated with RWI"

That should protect their trademark and eliminate any confusion about who is sponsoring the RW Forum.

I will do this for them, but I don't feel that I am obligated to do this any more than the evening news is obligated to state that they don't own the National Football League, when they announce the scores. I have no intention of closing down the RW Forum.

The business of Delphi is based on the ability of each of us to exercise our first amendment rights. I am sure that your attorney will not want to set a precedent of kowtowing to any yahoo that comes along and threatens to sue. Let me know if this is not the case.

Thanks,

Carlo Bertocchini