eBay settles lawsuit against similar site BidBay

(02-20) 15:21 PST SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- EBay Inc. has settled a trademark-infringement lawsuit it brought in July against BidBay.com, an upstart Internet auction site with a similar look and rainbow-colored logo. BidBay, based in Tujunga, Calif., agreed to change its name to AuctionDiner.com, design a new logo and pay eBay an undisclosed sum, lawyers for both companies said Wednesday.

"The fight was becoming too expensive for us," BidBay lawyer Barry Sabahat said. San Jose-based eBay contended that BidBay copied eBay's look and feel to attract buyers and sellers.

Using the term "Bay" in the name was especially egregious and an improper attempt to trade on eBay's solid reputation, said Jay Monahan, eBay's associate general counsel. Similarly, eBay also recently persuaded Brickbay.com, a site for trading Lego building-block toys, to change its name to Bricklink.com, Monahan said.

BidBay was started in December 1999 by George Tannous, a former Internal Revenue Service agent who bought the domain name for $1,000 on eBay. From inception through last Sept. 30, the company lost $9.1 million on revenue of $755,000, according to its most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, made in preparation for a possible public sale of stock. The company withdrew its registration statement with the SEC on Wednesday.