Eddie Bauer ads are popping up on browsers visiting the store’s Web site.

FREEPORT (AP) – L.L. Bean says it’s losing business to a competitor because of pop-up boxes that appeared on the Maine outdoors outfitter’s Web site.

“It really is poaching, and we consider it to be parasitic behavior,” said Rich Donaldson, a Bean spokesman.

Some customers who called up llbean.com were greeted by pop-up ads offering a discount at eddiebauer.com, a direct competitor. Donaldson said Bean was told about the pop-up ads three years ago by a customer who found the offers offensive.

Bean sent a letter two years ago asking the asking Gator.com Corp., a California company that makes online ads, to stop using the pop-up ads when computer users went to the Bean site.

Bean says the ads confused customers and suggested a connection between Bean, Bauer and Gator.com.

Now, Bean is involved in a federal lawsuit with Gator.com Corp., which is a subsidiary of Claria Corp.

Gator.com asked the court to rule that the company is within its rights to provide the ads to customers who use its Ewallet software, which automatically fills out Web order forms and saves password and credit card information for consumers in return for generating occasional pop-up ads.

The case has been bogged down by a jurisdictional dispute.

A ruling by a three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals says Bean does substantial business in California through its Web site.

The decision, which faces further review by a full appeals panel, expands jurisdiction to include Internet activity in deciding whether a company is actively engaging in commerce in a particular geographic area.

Bean is fighting the jurisdiction ruling, but is more interested in curtailing Claria’s and Gator.com’s activities, Donaldson said.

AP-ES-05-09-04 1231EDT