Patrick

Welcome aboard, TheGrim123321. Glad to have you here. Just to echo what others have said, once again, definitely report it to the adults around you. You said you would tell your Sensei. Awesome, hope that went well. I would also tell your parent(s) and/or guardian. If, in fact, the kid was dumb enough to post on Facebook that he's planning to do this, he probably won't be too difficult to outsmart. Outsmarting him should be your aim, not fighting him. Copy that evidence from Facebook however you can - screenshot it, print it, save the URL. Then give it to the adults. As cheesefrysamurai, Spartacus Maximus and others have said, getting some people together and meeting up with him - whatever that ends up looking like, whether you "win" or not - you lose. You'll have flipped into the aggressor and it'll be easy to paint you as the bully who was looking for a fight. After all, you are the one with actual martial arts instruction. He's just a regular, defenseless kid. You're the trained fighting machine. I know that may sound silly, but that is exactly how it could be spun and turned against you. Then you could be the one disciplined, expelled, shown on TV, arrested, etc. Hopefully, the adults deal with this kid and he leaves you alone. Patrick

Just stating the obvious here, but this forum is not a replacement for legal advance and can't be taken as legal advice. What you'll hear is a lot of opinions. Legal advice should be sought from attorneys. With that out of the way, yes, you can be sued. The simple truth is that anyone can sue for anything. It doesn't mean they'll be successful, of course. But they can sue you. People threaten lawsuits all the time. Most who threaten never do anything, they are just trying to intimidate. As far as stealing customers, this seems like a good read: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/167128 As far as "trademark," if that is what your husband's father said, that just illustrates he doesn't know what he's talking about. The area of law that would impact this is copyright, which is different. Can a martial arts curriculum be copyrighted? I don't see why not. Choreography can (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl119.html). Not to compare the martial arts to dance, but it seems fairly applicable. But I'm not a lawyer, so could be wrong. It sounds like you are uneasy and looking for advice on what to do. If I were you, I would do one of these or both: 1. Ignore him. Block him from texting your phones or calling you. If he gets through, ignore him. If the story is as you say, your husband's father is damaging his own credibility, not just your husband's. He might have some passionate supporters, but most people don't wish to be apart of family drama, especially when it isn't their family. Your husband should have an answer in mind when people ask him about it. I would say that answer should be polite and should not get into personally attacks. "My father and I had a falling out. Unfortunately, he fired me. It is a difficult situation for me and my family. I didn't want to give up the martial arts, so I decided to start my own school." Something like that. 2. If you are really worried, contact an attorney. It may cost you some money, but will probably give you some piece of mind. If you want, you could have the attorney send a letter to your father demanding that he stop the threats to you and your new business. Does that help your family situation? Probably not. So only you can decide what course to take here. Not an easy situation, either way. Best of luck. Patrick

Welcome to KF, Larry Love. Glad to have you. Patrick

Welcome aboard. Patrick

Welcome to KF, AlbanyDude. Glad to have you. Patrick

Welcome to KarateForums.com, Spartacus Maximus. Glad to have you. Patrick

I'll keep an eye out for The Last King of Scotland. Thanks Archimoto. I finished watching Ghost Dog. Interesting movie. I enjoyed it. Patrick

Welcome aboard, Yodo. Patrick

The software we use has an issue with the inclusion of parentheses in links. Sorry about that. For Danielle's second link above, visit: http://bit.ly/1xjuiOS Best of luck in your efforts. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. The June selection is... mazzybear. Congratulations! Thank you for all of your great contributions to our community. Sincerely, Patrick

Hey all, I'm about half way through this movie now, so I thought I'd start a thread to talk about it. I started watching it because I like Forest Whitaker a lot. Wikipedia has a good description: For those who are curious, the movie is currently on Netflix. I'm just past the part where he discovers that his shed and pigeon coop has been destroyed. I'll report back after I get to the end. Patrick

Thanks hammer! Patrick

Congrats Joppe. Patrick

Congrats Canadian77. Patrick

Thank you for the replies and kind words, andym, yamesu, Danielle, Heidi, Brian, Rusty, amerissa2890 and Nidan Melbourne. I appreciate it. Patrick

Welcome to KF, Les. Glad to have you. Patrick

http://www.easports.com/ufc/bruce-lee For more on the game, including the full roster of fighters, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA_Sports_UFC It'll be out June 14 on Xbox One and PS4. Patrick

That's all I can ask! Thanks for taking your posts here seriously. Patrick

Thank you for the replies and kind words, millhilldojo, armanox, Bob, eloylb, CredoTe, John, Bill, Jennifer, BlackKnight and Alex. No kidding. That's awesome, eloylb. Even though you may not have a lot of posts, that doesn't mean you haven't supported the community. It is rare when a member sticks around for as long as you have. Some members just stop by when they need something, some mostly read, some post a lot, etc. But being a part of this community as long as you have and still being here today... it's a pretty important thing for this community. So even if you feel like you haven't done much, I appreciate the fact that you have continued to come back here be a part of what we have. Thanks again, Patrick

Welcome aboard, Mokita. Glad to have you. Patrick

Haha, no worries, pers. I appreciate you replying, late or not. You deserved it. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. As a community, today is our 13th birthday. As time passes, I only grow more proud of what we have here and more thankful for those who have helped to make it happen - members who contribute in good faith and those who have joined me on staff, past and present. In honor of this occasion, I'd like to specifically recognize two groups. First, I would like to thank all members who have been with us for more than 5 years and are still with us today (have visited in the last two weeks). Thank you to Rateh, Zaine, wagnerk, unknownstyle, hammer, ineluki, BlackKnight, armanox, ps1, Chucksmanhood, IcemanSK, pittbullJudoka, sensei8, DWx, yamesu, tallgeese, bushido_man96, skullsplitter, defeyter, JusticeZero, ninjanurse, ShoriKid, sperki, Shizentai, GhostFighter, AlwaysInTraining, JohnASE, RJCKarate, ashworth and whitematt. Your longstanding contributions to this community have made it a better place. Thank you. The second group I would like to thank is those among the 100 most recently registered members who have at least one post and have visited within the last two weeks. There is a natural turn over of members that occurs with online communities. New members help this community to grow and change and become more valuable to all members who participate here. Thank you to Mokita, samdaniels, advantageledsigns, ChloeS, karatefreak91, Sword Knight, pwen arye, millhilldojo, qamarep, Zimlock, Iskrax, tamaro, eloylb, MrNice, Archimoto and Kanku65. I look forward to your future contributions and hope to see you stay with us for a while. Thank you for reading and for supporting KarateForums.com. Sincerely, Patrick

This poll seems a little one sided, ps1. Patrick

Hey unknownstyle, Opinions will vary and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think it's important to accept that. Having managed this community for 13 years, I've seen plenty of martial artists who have trouble doing so, especially in relation to other schools. For example: if someone prefers another school, they lack experience and taste. Perhaps they just like that school better than yours. Or they like the people at that school better than you. It's a bitter thing to have to accept. Your post here indicates that you are angry that this other school received recognition while yours (or another school) did not. Assuming this is a legitimate award, and not something made up, I would research how the top 3 schools are selected. I would then channel this energy into attempting to get that school recognized. For example, if it is a readers choice award, that implies that there is a specific period where readers can write into whatever publication publishes the results to vote. Contact the publication and find out when that is. Check with the rules of the competition, but there is a fair chance that they want organizations to encourage their customers to write in or vote. That would be your next step. When the time comes for the 2015 Readers Choice awards, be ready and with luck, maybe your school will be honored similarly. If it's not your school, then work with the owner of it. When someone wins an award, if you ask most people, the majority will say that someone else should have won it. If you win, the same will be true of you. Good luck. Patrick

Congrats armanox! It's pretty awesome that you have been training for 9 years and you have been a member here for just over 8. It's almost like we've been apart of the journey. Happy for you. Patrick