FELDMAN GALE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW One Biscayne tower, 30th Floor 2 South Biscayne Boulevard Miami, Florida 33131-4332 Tel: 305.358.5001 Fax: 305.358.3309 -------------- Reply to: Miami Office Toll Free: 800.489.9814 www.feldmanGale.com Email: JGale@FeldmanGale.com December 14, 2007 VIA E-MAIL, U.S. MAIL AND CERTIFIED MAIL: RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED Specialist, DNS Application Designs Box 16429874 Sioux falls, SD 57186 linuxxguy@yahoo.com Re: Cybersquatting, Trademark Infringement, and Unfair Competition of PROSPER(r) by Registration and Use of www.prosperreport.com in Violation of the Lanham Act, California Business & Profession Code § 17200 et seq., and common law rights. To Whom It May Concern: This Firm represents Prosper Marketplace, Inc., which is the owner of the trademark registrations: PROSPER(r) registration no. 3,277,812 PROSPER(r) registration no. 3,253,371 PROSPER(r) registration no. 3,274,817 Copies of the foregoing certificates of registrations from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are enclosed. Prosper Marketplace, Inc., is also the owner of the PROSPER trademark application that has been assigned USPTO serial number 78,806,695. Prosper Marketplace, Inc. has expended substantial time, effort, and monies to promote the PROSPER(r) trademarks and its services related thereto. As a trademark owner, Prosper Marketplace, Inc. has an affirmative legal obligation to protect and enforce its trademarks in order to ensure that customers are not confused as to the source and nature of Prosper Marketplace, Inc.'s goods and services and to protect the value of such important intellectual property. Thus, it is critical that Prosper Marketplace, Inc. ensure that its trademarks are used only in a manner of its choosing, else the value of its trademarks could be diminished. It has come to our attention that Application Designs has registered the domain name www.prosperreport.com and is improperly using this domain name in violation of Prosper Marketplace, Inc.'s trademark rights. The use of the name www.prosperreport.com is confusingly similar to Prosper Marketplace, Inc.'s PROSPER(r) trademarks. The registration and use of www.prosperreport.com incorporates the PROSPER(r) trademarks and constitutes cybersquatting in violation of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125. Moreover, www.prosperreport.com was not created until March 1, 2007, which is after Prosper Marketplace, Inc.'s first use in commerce of the PROSPER(r) trademarks. Likewise, continued use of the www.prosperreport.com is likely to cause confusion among the consuming public, and thus constitutes trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051 et seq., California Business & Profession Code § 17200 et seq., and common law rights. As a result, Prosper Marketplace, Inc. has no choice but to require Application Designs to transfer the domain name www.prosperreport.com to Prosper Marketplace, Inc. and to cease and desist from registering or using www.prosperreport.com and any domain name with the term "prosper" or any substantially similar imitation thereof. Substantially similar imitation includes any combination with other words or a change in spelling or words that are identical with, resembles, or are so similar to the term "prosper" that such words are likely to cause confusion, or deceive, or mislead others. Although Prosper Marketplace, Inc. may be entitled to recover significant remedies, it prefers to resolve this matter in a speedy and amicable manner, and without the need for any litigation. Prosper Marketplace, Inc. does, however, believe it is necessary to caution Application Designs that remedies for cybersquatting and trademark infringement can be quite substantial and include statutory damages, a disgorgement of any profits earned, actual damages incurred, and/or a reasonable royalty, attorney's fees, and costs. In certain instances, the disgorgement of profits, actual damages, and/or reasonable royalty can be multiplied up to a factor of three. Additionally, Prosper Marketplace, Inc. may be entitled to an injunction preventing Application Designs from infringing the PROSPER(r) trademarks and requiring Application Designs to transfer the domain name www.prosperreport.com to Prosper Marketplace, Inc. You should also be aware that all officers, directors, employees and agents who participate in or have the ability to supervise and control the infringing conduct may be found personally liable for the infringement. Accordingly, in an effort to amicably resolve, this dispute, Prosper Marketplace, Inc. proposes the following: 1) Application Designs shall immediately cease use of the domain name www.prosperreport.com; 2) Application Designs shall immediately take steps to transfer the registration for www.prosperreport.com to Prosper Marketplace, Inc.; 3) Application Designs shall not register or use any other domain name which uses in any way the term "prosper" or any term that is substantially similar to the term "prosper"; 4) Application Designs will signify its acceptance of these terms by signing in the space provided at the end of this letter and returning a signed copy of this letter to us. In exchange for your agreement and compliance with all of the terms and conditions set forth herein, Prosper Marketplace, Inc. will agree to waive any claim for past damages relating to your infringement and will reimburse your for costs associated with the transfer of the domain name www.prosperreport.com to Prosper Marketplace, Inc. If these terms are not accepted before December 23, 2007, this offer will expire and Prosper Marketplace, Inc. will be placed in a position where it will be required to take more formal action. Prosper Marketplace, Inc. reserves all of its rights and remedies in the event these demands are not met. We sincerely hope this will not be necessary. We look forward to your cooperation in this matter. If in the interim you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Very truly yours, Feldman Gale, P.A. James A. Gale Enc. Cc: Prosper Marketplace, Inc. I HEREBY AGREE TO AND ACCEPT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS DETAILED ABOVE: By:____________________________ on behalf of Application Designs Title:___________________________ Print Name:_____________________ Date:__________________________ Int. CL: 38 Prior U.S. Cls.: 100, 101, and 104 Reg. No. 3,277,812 United States Patent and Trademark Office Registered Aug. 7, 2007 SERVICE MARK PRINCIPAL REGISTER PROSPER PROSPER MARKETPLACE, INC. (DELAWARE CORPORATION) 111 SUTTER STREET, 22ND FLOOR SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104 FOR: TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES, NAMELY ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF DATA AND MESSAGES; ONLINE INTERACTIVE BULLETIN BOARD AND CHAT ROOM FOR TRANSMISSION OF MESSAGES AMONG USERS CONCERNING FINANCIAL MATTERS, IN CLASS 38 (U.S. CLS. 100, 101 AND 104). FIRST USE 2-5-2006; IN COMMERCE 2-5-2006 THE MARK CONSISTS OF STANDARD CHARACTERS WITHOUT CLAIM TO ANY PARTICULAR FONT, STYLE, SIZE, OR COLOR SN 78-806,701, FILED 2-3-2006 KELLY CHOE, EXAMINING ATTORNEY Int. CL: 38 Prior U.S. Cls.: 100, 101, and 104 Reg. No. 3,253,371 United States Patent and Trademark Office Registered June 19, 2007 SERVICE MARK PRINCIPAL REGISTER [star offset in circle] PROSPER PROSPER MARKETPLACE, INC. (DELAWARE CORPORATION) 153 KEARNY STREET, MEZZANINE SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108 FOR: TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES, NAMELY ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF DATA AND MESSAGES; ONLINE INTERACTIVE BULLETIN BOARD AND CHAT ROOM FOR TRANSMISSION OF MESSAGES AMONG USERS CONCERNING FINANCIAL MATTERS, IN CLASS 38 (U.S. CLS. 100, 101 AND 104). FIRST USE 2-5-2006; IN COMMERCE 2-5-2006. THE COLOR(S) BLUE, WHITE AND BLACK IS/ARE CLAIMED AS A FEATURE OF THE MARK. THE COLOR BLACK APPEARS IN THE WORDING, PROSPER, THE COLOR BLUE AND WHITE APPEAR IN THE STAR IN THE CIRCLE DESIGN, AND THE COLOR WHITE APPEARS IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE ENTIRE MARK. THE COLOR WHITE IS NOT PART OF THE BACKGROUND, BUT RATHER INDICATES A TRANSPARENT BACKGROUND. SER. NO. 78-860,700, FILED 4-13-2006 KELLY CHOE, EXAMINING ATTORNEY Int. CL: 35 Prior U.S. Cls.: 100, 101, and 102 Reg. No. 3,274,817 United States Patent and Trademark Office Registered Aug. 7, 2007 SERVICE MARK PRINCIPAL REGISTER [star offset in circle] PROSPER PROSPER MARKETPLACE, INC. (DELAWARE CORPORATION) 153 KEARNY STREET, MEZZANINE SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108 FOR: ONLINE WEBSITE SERVICES RELATING TO MATCHING BORROWERS WITH POTENTIAL LENDERS IN THE FIELD OF CONSUMER LENDING IN AN AUCTION-TYPE ENVIRONMENT VIA A GLOBAL COMPUTER NETWORK, IN CLASS 35 (U.S. CLS. 100, 101 AND 102). FIRST USE 2-5-2006; IN COMMERCE 2-5-2006 THE COLOR(S) BLUE, WHITE AND BLACK IS/ARE CLAIMED AS A FEATURE OF THE MARK. THE COLOR BLACK APPEARS IN THE WORDING, PROSPER, THE COLOR WHITE APPEARS ONLY IN THE STAR DESIGN FEATURED INSIDE THE BLUE CIRCLE DESIGN PORTION OF THE MARK. SER. NO. 78-860,707, FILED 4-13-2006 KELLY CHOE, EXAMINING ATTORNEY