Oxymagic carpet cleaning franchise company, it seems, is earning a reputation as a corporate bully. Now they’re getting sued for it.
(UnhappyFranchisee.com) Oxymagic franchise owners might be fine people who take great pride in serving their customers. Unfortunately, it seems like the OxyMagic carpet cleaning brand that they rely on is becoming more and more associated with the bullying tactics and vendettas of the OxyMagic franchisor.
As we reported in an earlier post (Has OXYMAGIC CEO David Iseley Gone Off the Deep End?), OxyMagic founder & CEO David Iseley maintains a website dedicated to smearing a young, ex-employee he accuses of becoming a competitor. David Iseley has started a YouTube channel dedicated solely to videos in which he personally attacks the ex-employee (whose carpet cleaning franchise is thriving and has outpaced OxyMagic in both awards and unit growth).
Now another company is claiming to be a victim of threats and intimidation by Iseley’s OxyMagic… and they’ve filed a lawsuit to put an end to it.
On September 14, 2011, Virtual Point Inc., a California Corporation dba Crosspath filed a complaint in United States District Court, Central District of California, against Oxymagic Franchise Development, an Oklahoma corporation. The complaint seeks declaratory judgements that establish that (despite what Oxymagic Franchise Development accuses) they did not infringe on Oxymagic Franchise Development’s trademark, they did not engage in unfair Competition, they did not violate the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, and that they are the rightful owner of the Oxymagic.com domain name.
In addition, the complaint alleges that Oxymagic Franchise Development is guilty of Common Law Unfair Competition and has violated Unfair Competition of California Code section 17200.
Virtual Point Inc. is seeking monetary damages, attorney’s fees & expenses.
Read the full complaint: Virtual Point, Inc. v. Oxymagic Franchise Development (PDF)
Here’s the gist: it seems that, after eight years, the domain name Oxymagic.com recently became available for registration. Oxymagic missed its chance to register it, and Virtual Point, Inc. registered the domain name for its own use. According to the Virtual Point, Inc. suit, Oxymagic then launched a campaign of threats and intimidation to try to coerce Virtual Point into giving them the domain.
According to the complaint, a representative for Oxymagic Franchise Development “sent three separate communications, each accusing the Plaintiff of infringing on the Defendant’s trademark rights. Within these emails the defendant also demanded transfer of the Domain Names and sought Plaintiff’s legal address for legal service of process.”
“…Defendant’s actions and communications show a clear intent to use any means necessary to obtain the Domain Names…”
“Defendant’s accusations of trademark infringement are objectively specious and baseless, and have been made in a bad faith effort to obtain ownership of the Domain Name.”
“At best, Defendant’s trademark rights are weak and narrowly limited…”
Oxymagic was granted a federal registration by the US Patent & Trademark Office last year for the service mark “Oxymagic” in the area of carpet cleaning. Virtual Point Inc. maintains that it is not using the name to promote carpet cleaning, so the trademark claim is irrelevant. Further, the suit points out that there are hundreds or thousands of legitimate websites using “oxy” and “magic” in trademarks, domain names and websites owned by third parties promoting such things as wood floor refinishing, a stain removal pen, a face cream, several different cleaning services and a model of refrigerator.
So while the franchise company might be under the impression it owns the word Oxymagic, “At best, Defendant’s trademark rights are weak and narrowly limited to the field of carpet cleaning” according to the complaint.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH OXYMAGIC FRANCHISE DEVELOPMENT, DAVID ISELEY OR VIRTUAL POINT, INC.? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Contact the post author or site admin at unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com.
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View Comments
Hmmm... maybe if David Iseley focused on supporting his franchisees and improving his company like a grown up instead of making childish videos he wouldn't have missed registering the domain. He probably could have bought it from the previous owner for a song if he hadn't been out picking fights and playing the victim. Just a guess.
Anyone having a mark must defend their mark. Are you the Coca Cola unhappy franchisee blog. What about Burger King? is that weak. Or Starbucks? No but someone at the trademark office thinks that the brand is strong enough.
There are thousands of quote "weak brands". Look at that Oxi Fresh brand it is weak. Who is this domain reseller going to sell it to?
And as far as the Oxi Fresh guy. Looks like he has succeeded through decieving and nobody likes that.
A. Leanard
Whoever writes this blog. You are a coward not to even post your name after making outlandish remarks.
For one thijng. I don't know who Virtual Point is and have never contacted them.
And Jonathan Barnett did lie and steal and post fraudulant videos and bought paid endorsements to grow his company. He claims he created the cleaning system. He is a liar.
Go ahead and edit this and not post it.
Your a douche!
WEAK BRANDING?
Burger King, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Curves, Taco Bell, Smoothie King, Stanley Steamer, Midas, Papa Murphy's, Papa John's, etc. etc.
Weak or not they have the weight of the US Trademark Office behind them.
Looked up Oxy Fresh and their is also what appears to be a multi level marketing company with the same name as that carpet cleaner guy. So I guess thats weak as well.
To No Name Blogger
And to all the hard working people and jobs you have created at Unhappy Franchisee.
One last thing.
I sincerely appreciate you helping me market my Youtube videos.
We started getting more hits after you posted me on unhappy franchisee
Mr. Iseley:
Thanks for your comments. Please elaborate on which remarks you believe are "outlandish." We are simply stating what the Virtual Point, Inc. dba Crosspoint lawsuit alleges. We are not saying their allegations are true. As to your other points:
"I don’t know who Virtual Point is and have never contacted them"
Did you not receive a copy of the above complaint? They just made up the part about your representative contacting them about the domain? That's weird. Why would they do that?
"Jonathan Barnett did lie and steal and post fraudulant videos and bought paid endorsements to grow his company."
Is the Designing Spaces video on your website and on YouTube a paid promotional video? If so, shouldn't it be labeled as such? Seems like both of you are using unlabeled infomercials. How is yours better?
"Anyone having a mark must defend their mark"
That's true, but only within the trade designation for which its registered. OxyMagic.com is not specific only to carpet cleaning, and others certainly can legally claim right to use it in a way that doesn't create confusion with your company, can't they?
"as the Oxi Fresh guy. Looks like he has succeeded through decieving..."
I watched your videos and have a question: If Oxi Fresh is using your same basic system, why have they grown about 3X larger than Oxymagic if they're doing the same thing? Is it possible that they actually improved on your system? Are there things you can learn from them to help your franchisees succeed?
Jess Sayin makes a good point. Why didn't you just buy the domain name from the previous owner? They obviously were willing to give it up. It probably would have been a cheaper alternative than defending a lawsuit and still not winding up with the name. Just curious...
Thanks again for commenting, Mr. Iseley.
I read about Oxymagic's silly claims on another site too. After reading up it seems to me that a young ex-employee with a lot more talent than David Iseley started another company that quickly outgrew Iseley's dinosaur company. Iseley would rather spend his time whining and playing victim on the Internet instead of focusing on his own business and trying to catch up in the marketplace.
It's kind of sad to see a grown man begging for sympathy and making excuses for getting his butt kicked by a young, energetic entrepreneur. If he wasn't so meanspirited, I'd feel sorry for him.
To David Iseley:
I have been in your situation, and can sympathize. I had an employee I had helped out when she needed a job. When her sister was desperate I did her a favor and gave her a job. Then I found out they were building a competing business while on my payroll. I got their website taken down temporarily but there wasn't much I could do unless I wanted to sink money and time into a lawsuit. So I focused on beating them as a competitor. It took a few years but they went out of business.
Years later, the rage still burns if I think about it. So I don't. You gotta move on. I realized the damage I'd do to myself was worse than any competitor could do if I didn't. For example, if a prospective franchisee searches David Iseley or Oxyfresh in Google your angry websites and obsessive comments under phony names come up. You sound more like a hothead stalker than a professional someone would want to go into business with. My advice? Buy a punching bag, take down your sites and put your energy into growing your franchise chain. For your sake, not his.
To: Anon
What great talent Jonathan had. I have franchisees that remember when Jonathan couldn't answer even the simplist of questions as well as his intense nervousness in our training meetings.
Several of my franchisees have encouraged my shooting videos so the truth could be heard. At it is well within my rights to do so. Anyone with no courage can blog and make comments.
If anything that I have said is wrong then JB can come on. But I refuse to let him tell people that Oxi Fresh was all his idea and he created everything.
When he left he took and duplicated our model exactly. He left without even giving a notice. Then he took our system, our marketing and copied Oxi Cleans Logo and there you have it. What talent.
To: David Iseley
We get it. He learned from you then started his own company. That was a bad thing to do. Very unChristian. Point made.
Your repetitive rants and vicious comments just make you look bad and call attention to the fact that this kid took your idea and grew it 3X faster and 3X larger in less time. He spends his time selling franchises and putting out press releases about his company's accomplishments and you spend your time obsessing about him and creating maniacal, stalker-like videos.
Be honest: which of these two business people would you buy a franchise from? And if you're such an innovator and pioneer, why haven't you kept ahead of him in the marketplace?