Video Professor, Inc. v. Montgomery [1]

On February 26, 2009, Video Professor filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado against Cameron Montgomery, the owner of a website that labels itself "the Internet's ONLY Certified Review AuthorityTM for work at home opportunities" at www.ripoff-review.org [2].  The Complaint [3] asserted claims for trademark infringement under state and federal law, commercial and business disparagement,  violation of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, and tortious interference with business relationships.

According to the Complaint, defendant purchased the trademark "Video Professor" as a Google AdWords keyword. (Compl. ¶ 14)  As a result, whenever a consumer used Google to search for the words "Video Professor," an advertisement for defendant's website appeared, containing the statements "NEW VIDEO SCAM" and "Stop! Dont [sic] fall for this Scam.  Read this Report before you Buy."(Compl. ¶ 19)  Clicking on the link lead to a page on the website Ripoff-Review.org (which has, itself, been the subject of complaints [4] on the Ripoff Report website) headlined "Online Fraud Investigator Dr. William J. Tomlin Reveals the Shocking Truth You MUST Know About Video Professor Program. . ." (Compl. ¶ 20). The website further claimed that "Dr. Tomlin" himself "was scammed by the Video Professor." (Compl. ¶ 22)  On the same page outlining claims against plaintiff's Video Professor program, defendant recommended its own "Top 3 Work at Home CertifiedTM Programs," along with links to the websites of these programs.  (Compl. ¶¶ 26-28)  The Complaint alleges that these three programs are under common ownership by defendant.  (Compl. ¶ 30)

On March 5, 2009, Video Professor filed a Notice of Dismissal [5] stating that the parties had reached a settlement.  The statements about Video Professor no longer appear on the ripoff-review.org website.