MovingHelp.com Uses Lawsuit to Put an End to Competitor's Misuse of Trademark and Intellectual Property

PHOENIX, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- MovingHelp.com, the first Internet-based marketplace for moving labor services, today announced a resolution of its two-year legal dispute with competitor Hire a Helper.  

The dispute arose when Michael Glanz, who founded Hire a Helper after being expelled for "hacking" his educational institution, became a Moving Helper® affiliate and gained access to Moving Help® proprietary and confidential information and business model.  One year later, Glanz started his own Web site that incorporated Moving Help® trade secrets, trademarks and copyrights.  In addition to claiming a violation of all of its intellectual property rights, MovingHelp.com alleged Glanz committed fraud, breach of contract and unfair competition.

The expensive two-year battle between Hire a Helper and MovingHelp.com finally reached a conclusion on September 30, 2010, with the following results.

Hire a Helper and Glanz are making a significant financial payment to MovingHelp.com based on past behavior and will also pay MovingHelp.com on jobs going forward.

Hire a Helper and Glanz conceded MovingHelp.com's ownership of Moving Help® trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, and agreed to never challenge them again in the future.

Hire a Helper and Glanz will stop use of Moving Help® intellectual property and will no longer use the trademarks Moving Help® or Moving Helper® in any manner, and will no longer allow any service provider, customer or affiliates to use the Moving Help® or Moving Helper® trademarks on their Web site.

Hire a Helper and Glanz stopped all use of the patented Moving Help® payment code system, which provides MovingHelp.com's customers with control over payment to their Moving Helper®.

"This settlement comes as a great victory for MovingHelp.com and our independent Moving Helpers®," stated Sam Shoen, president, eMove, Inc.  "We take pride in our innovations and we are thrilled with the resolution, the protection it provides for our brand and the efforts of our independent Moving Helpers® across North America."

MovingHelp.com was created out of a need to provide individuals and families with reliable helpers that are better than movers at an affordable cost. As a result, an online marketplace was developed that today enables customers to shop and compare individuals who will provide a variety of labor services – loading, unloading, packing, unpacking, cleaning and driving. Each day, hundreds of people choose from a list of thousands of customer-reviewed Moving Helpers® throughout the U.S. and Canada.

For more information about Moving Help®, please visit movinghelp.com.

SOURCE U-Haul