BENTON – Flower shop owner Catherine Weber of Highland claims wedding website The Knot and web registration manager GoDaddy intercept her customers and refer them to her competitors.
Weber filed for arbitration in Madison County circuit court on July 29, and The Knot removed the dispute to U.S. district court on Aug. 19.
In her complaint, attorney James Craney of Edwardsville alleged fraud and conspiracy.
“Agents or clients of The Knot receive consumer information and referrals from The Knot when such referrals should have been sent only to plaintiff,” the suit claims.
Weber’s store, A Special Touch, alleges lost sales.
Deliveries of substandard merchandise and failures to deliver at all has allegedly harmed her business reputation.
The suit claims that A Special Touch is a legitimate brick and mortar shop that sells flowers and displays directly to consumers.
Weber owns the name and its trademark.
According to the suit, The Knot advertises for customers who want to buy flowers. It has "A Special Touch" on its website with Weber's shop name, its address on Broadway, and other identifying information.
Weber's A Special Touch is in no way affiliated with The Knot and has not authorized The Knot to use its identifying information, the suit claims.
Consumers who attempt to contact A Special Touch using The Knot are first directed to fill out confidential and personal information, which includes how many people they invited, how much they would pay, and what type of flowers they would need.
“When a consumer seeks out A Special Touch on The Knot website, it appears that a consumer can contact A Special Touch through The Knot website,” the suit claims.
The Knot allegedly falsely informs consumers that A Special Touch was contacted with the information.
Consumers allegedly aren’t informed that six or more competitors of A Special Touch are contacted with the information.
The suit identifies four competitors as Flower Shop Florist, Just Flowers, Jennie Catherine Flowers, Sisters Floral Design, and Petaled Pail.
They allegedly contact consumers and pretend to be A Special Touch.
GoDaddy allegedly violates consumer law through a subsidiary, Domains by Proxy, that GoDaddy’s founder owns.
Domains by Proxy offers privacy services “so that websites can hide, conceal and keep secret the actual owners of the websites,” the suit claims.
The suit seeks an injunction, compensatory damages, and punitive damages.
The Knot retained Daniel Campbell of McDermott Will in Chicago, and he removed the complaint to district court.
He asserted diverse jurisdiction as a Delaware corporation in Maryland, and identified GoDaddy as a Delaware corporation in Arizona.
The court clerk randomly assigned Magistrate Judge Reona Daly, who will preside if all parties consent to magistrate jurisdiction. If they don’t consent the clerk will assign a district judge.