Coral Resorts, Hilton Head law firm settle suit over copyright violations
A Hilton Head Island law firm has agreed to stop using the name of a local timeshare company to drive traffic to its own website.
Naert and DuBois LLC will no longer use specific keywords related to Coral Resorts LLC to promote itself through search engines such as Google, the firm's attorneys said Friday afternoon. The agreement, finalized that day, settles a federal lawsuit Coral Resorts filed against Naert and DuBois in December 2013. It comes as the law firm continues to represent dissatisfied timeshare owners in more than 60 state and federal cases against the company.
"We are pleased that trademark protection remains a key principal in fair business practices, as recognized by this case's outcome," Coral Resorts lawyer Nekki Shutt said of the agreement.
Zach Naert said the settlement covers only a few of the registered trademarks and phrases the timeshare company sought to safeguard from outside use: "Coral Resorts," "Coral Resorts LLC," "Hilton Head Island Development Company," and "Hilton Head Island Development Company LLC."
The firm, representing itself, said it may still purchase other keywords -- from timeshare resort names Coral Sands, Coral Reef and Island Links, to employee names and common timeshare phrases like "bonus weeks."
While Coral Resorts and Hilton Head Island Development Company asked U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel for unspecified damages for lost business and legal fees, the settlement did not include any cash.
Joe DuBois said he still believes he and Naert had the right to buy and use Coral Resorts' name.
He says Gergel suggested in February that Coral Resorts dismiss its lawsuit, though a transcript from that hearing was not available Monday.
Still, DuBois said, he and Naert chose a compromise to bring an end to litigation.
"We feel strongly in the position we have, but it was the right time to resolve this case," DuBois said. "We have to focus on the matters we're representing clients in," referring to the pending lawsuits against Coral Resorts. In the lawsuits, timeshare owners allege they were misled by the company. Many assert they were deceived by sales pitches and signed contracts that didn't reflect what they were told when they bought a timeshare.
The company denies the claims. It has said the owners are a small subset of its nearly 30,000 timeshare purchasers.
Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.
Related content:
This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 9:23 AM with the headline "Coral Resorts, Hilton Head law firm settle suit over copyright violations."