Tiger Direct Asks for Millions in Pop-Up Suit

Computer DMer/retailer Tiger Direct Inc. is seeking millions of dollars in damages from WhenU.com, a New York online advertising agency, for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Tiger Direct alleges that WhenU.com offers consumers "rapacious software" which supposedly provides discounts but actually steers visitors from sites they’re on to WhenU.com sponsors. The charges are part of a lawsuit filed in December (Direct Newsline, Dec. 31, 2002). Calls to WhenU CEO Avi Naider were not returned by deadline. The complaint alleges that WhenU’s software causes pop-up ads to "appear over or in place of third-party advertisers who have legitimately obtained the right to advertise their products or services on a particular Web site."

Tiger Direct alleges that content on its site (www.TigerDirect.com) is blocked by WhenU’s pop-up ads. TigerDirect does not sell pop-up/under advertisements on its site.

Individuals download WhenU.com’s software through what Tiger Direct terms a "Trojan horse" concept. According to the complaint, WhenU invites Web surfers to download free software, including its SaveNow program. Tiger Direct alleges that SaveNow sends consumers "a vast number of offers and services available to Internet users."

Tiger Direct also charges that consumers downloading SaveNow have other software placed on their computers. These programs monitor the URLs the consumers visit without notifying them that this is being done.

In addition, Tiger Direct claims that WhenU.com’s pop-up ads appear at TigerDirect.com’s checkout screen, offering discounts. If a potential customer clicks an "OK" button, that individual is moved to WhenU’s checkout, and may end up purchasing a discount program. The discounts are unrelated to Tiger Direct, but customers are often confused by this process, the complaint alleges.

As part of the complaint, Tiger Direct included a screen capture of its Web site that includes an allegedly unauthorized advertisement from Dell Computer.

Tiger Direct is seeking $1 million for each of its trademarks it asserts were counterfeited by WhenU.com. It also wants injunctions that would bar WhenU.com from continuing to place pop-up ads, interfering with its Web sites, and making any suggestions that Tiger Direct is in any way a sponsor of its services.

Last November, another company that delivered unauthorized pop-up messages—Gator.com—agreed to stop selling ads that block out ads on other Web sites. It did so after the Interactive Advertising Bureau threatened to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

Gator had also been sued by 12 media companies, including The Washington Post, The New York Times and USA Today.