Entrepreneur Media Abandons Legal Claims Against Lesonsky

Entrepreneur Media settled its legal claims against long-time editor Rieva Lesonsky. Entrepreneur Media alleged Lesonsky stole Entrepreneur Magazine's trade secrets. While Lesonsky agreed not to use a name "confusingly similar" to Entrepreneur Media's trademarked name Franchise 500 in creating her new list (which, it seemed, was at the time yet unnamed), she will continue to create her own ranking of franchise companies. Entrepreneur Media's claims were pretty ridiculous arguing Lesonsky essentially didn't have the right to contact or rank franchising companies. I have written about Entrepreneur Media's claims here.

In an interview with Folio Magazine, Lesonsky said "This, I believe, goes to show that I didn’t steal anything. I feel like I was being bullied by Entrepreneur, which I know other entrepreneurs have gone through. This is just another David versus Goliath story."

I'd have to agree. Entrepreneur Media is an aggressive litigator. If Lesonsky had stolen legitimate trade secrets it's unreasonable to believe Entrepreneur Media would just walk away. Instead, it appears Entrepreneur Media made up claims it knew to be illegitimate in an attempt to threaten Lesonsky. When Lesonsky wouldn't just back down, Entrepreneur Media tossed in their cards.

Entrepreneur Trademark Update 1-6-09