47 / 72 Inc. is already drawing negative attention from celebrities because of its trademark filings.
A company has filed over 70 trademark applications in an effort to register trademarks similar to famous brands, popular slogans and terms used by celebrities and brand owners.
Mike Lin, who was an early employee at LinkedIn, told Domain Name Wire that 47 / 72 Inc.’s goal is to put these trademarks on t-shirts and other printable items.
Lin has spent $34,000 on trademark filing fees for trademarks such as Periscope, House of Mouse, Swiper No Swiping, Oh Snap! Chat., and even the names of Pokemon Go teams like Team Valor.
His company has also has applied for trademarks matching valuable domain names including Pets.com and X.com. Dot.com darling Pets.com now forwards to PetSmart.com and X.com was a predecessor to PayPal.
Lin told Domain Name Wire that he believes he can trademark these terms because their owners (in the cases in which there are trademarks) haven’t trademarked them for the same class of goods, namely online retail.
The applications have been filed on an intent-to-use basis.
A presentation about the company’s plans reveals many of the trademark applications it has filed, and predicts that the trademarks will be registered.
The presentation also brags about filing to register the mark Black Mamba, a nickname for basketball great Kobe Bryant. The slide notes “Nothing but Net on this trademark” and “Nike lawyers forgot to ‘Just Do It'”.
Bryant’s lawyers have already sent a cease & desist letter, Lin said. He also has a cease & desist from Beyonce, and has been told he’ll receive one for his trademark application Prophets of Rage.
Lin’s presentation promotes a cache of good Periscope handles as well:
Luke Brean of BreanLaw, LLC has filed the trademarks on behalf of the company. Brean declined to talk to Domain Name Wire, referring me to Lin instead.
One of 47 / 72 Inc’s trademark applications is for the popular saying “Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.”
Lin told me I can read into that application however I’d like.
Even if he thinks he can get away with this trademark racket, it shows a real lack of ambition / imagination if THIS project is the best he can conceive of doing with his life.
another sleezeball trying to trademark other people’s domains , karma get this parasite
Oh well, what do we have here? wasted money that should have been donated to charity
He and Gleissner should have a tm face-off 😀
The application for “de puta madre” states, “The English translation of DE PUTA MADRE in the mark is a Southern-Spain slang term for “something that’s awesome”.”
The application is signed by Luke Brean with the following statement:
“The signatory being warned that willful false statements and the like are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and that such willful false statements and the like may jeopardize the validity of the application or any registration resulting therefrom, declares that all statements made of his/her own knowledge are true and all statements made on information and belief are believed to be true.”
It is quite clear to ANY Spanish speaker what “de puta madre” means.
The extent to which trademark attorneys will flat out lie under oath never ceases to impress me.
Mr Berryhill-with all this nonsense going on re TM of domains etc if a person has a great .com what category should he/she register it under for a trademark-or should one even trademark a domain at all? Thank you!
Registration of a domain name as a trademark is useful only if the domain name is being used as a trademark.
I registered a descriptive phrase.com cked their was no tm filed or intent to use on file. And 10 years later a billion dollar corp filed for a trademark stating that it had overcome the descriptiveness. I supplied contrary samples in a notice of opposition. I even supplied direct info the applicant had lied. I supplied applicant stating the mark was still confusing with documented pubic statements. still the TTAB board stated my notice of opposition was rejected with prejudice. I can now use my descriptive phrase anyway I want to ,as it was filed prior to applicant filing their tm. So here we have a billion dollar corp that does not own the corresponding .com of their principal tm. This is the stupidest billion dollar corp legal maneuver I have ever seen. And they sent plenty maybe 50k plus on this tm.
Pets.com will be a weak trademark.
http://www.Jewelry.com is trademarked but that too is extremely weak.
http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4809:7idn4t.2.3
Would it be too much to ask of common sense that trademarks not be granted for a domain name not owned by the applicant? Stuff like Pets.com, for example.
In what possible scenario would it be in the best interests of society for someone who has never been associated with Domain.TLD to own a trademark for “Domain.TLD”?
In Australia you can’t register a domain name as a trademark even if you own it, least that was the case 10 years ago
wow I guess these .com’s are really worth something
The TM Train wreck is coming. This and other abuses is why the Global TM system should be retired and replaced by the domain system The only factor being possession, specific targeting being the exception. Keeping it so incredibly simple in so many ways.
The current TM system wasn’t designed for the digital era. Outside the USA
one can actually buy a TM without a company!
Yes.. this work. I can’t wait until he TM’s a sports team.
TMs a crime family and then wonders why there is a horse’s head in his bed
Looks like some of the marks were approved, some suspended, some with office actions, and some still waiting to be reviewed.
If he was an early employee of all the companies he references (including Linked and Zynga), then he probably cashed out $millions after their liquidity events.
Some of the marks aren’t bad for T-shirts, ones that have what I think are original phrases (but maybe they aren’t original)
Gleissner’s story is still up in the air. He’s a citizen of the Philippines, and its new President has gone amok, arresting and killing lots of citizens there. So Gleissner could be locked up in a prison and all his assets (resort, film studio and film school on Cebu) seized.
The Trademark King in Indiana or was it Ohio — he struck out with all his applications and obviously had no idea what he was doing.
But this guy – Lins — he’s been working with well-known companies in Silicon Valley for over 15 years and no doubt made some major coin. Why he’s seeking crazy trademarks (x.com, pets.com, etc) for T-Shirts — makes little or no sense. He’s a software/UX designer…. go work for another company in S Valley and make another $10 million — rather than T-shirts ot create a brand around one slogan like “LIFE IS GOOD” — I don’t get it
Is this the same idiot who tried to trademark target.com and ford.com ?
Don’t these people realize that they cannot trademark common phrases or other people’s work?!
So he was/is trying to trademark-squat. Interesting story! Well reported.
BTW, the link to the Presentation, please could you link directly to it, as it appears to have been removed.
http://www.karatstreet.com is trademarked but that too is extremely weak.