Pompton Plains, NJ -- HSH Associates, Financial Publishers, has announced settlement of a lawsuit brought against a mortgage broker who sent unsolicited bulk e-mail, or "spam", over the Internet under HSH's bestrates.com trademark.

HSH brought suit under North Carolina anti-spam law against Carolina Home Mortgage Services of Cary, NC, for sending spam e-mail with a forged header to make it appear as if the e-mail originated from one of HSH's domains.

Under the terms of the stipulation, Carolina Home Mortgage Services will pay unspecified damages to HSH and has stipulated to never again use HSH's trademarks or near resemblances to HSH's trademarks, including HSH's bestrates.com trademark. North Carolina law allows statutory damages of as much as $10 per "spam" or $25,000 for each day spam messages are sent, plus attorneys' fees and costs.

"HSH is committed to protecting our reputation and consumers who may be fooled into thinking that we are responsible," said Paul Havemann, vice president. "We will aggressively pursue legal action against anyone who illegally uses our trademarks in conjunction with spam." HSH was represented by Christopher J. McHattie, Esq. of Kinnelon, NJ.