Vox Populi can't take no for an answer. Remember when Vox Populi filed to register a trademark for .Sucks? We all pointed out that you can't get a trademark for a top level domain name. And that's precisely what the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ... Continue Reading4 Comments
FundMe.com and GoFundMe.com in trademark spat
· Policy & LawTwo similarly-named companies are on a collision course. The owner of FundMe.com has filed a lawsuit against personal fundraising site GoFundMe.com over the similarity of their names and trademarks, and a bit of nuance around types of ... Continue Reading11 Comments
Twitter and rival Tencent might have to fight over “Moments”
· Policy & LawTencent files trademark applications, presumably in response to Twitter launching new "Moments" feature. On October 6, Twitter launched "Moments" in an effort to attract more users to trending topics. It's a pretty cool feature, but Twitter might ... Continue ReadingLeave a Comment
University of Cambridge withdraws trademark challenge after UDRP loss
· Policy & LawTail between the legs. University of Cambridge has withdrawn a challenge to a trademark application for a Cambridge.com logo after losing a UDRP for the same domain name. As I reported earlier this week, a UDRP panel admonished the 800-year-old ... Continue ReadingLeave a Comment
Finally! Google sues robocallers Local Lighthouse
· Policy & LawGoogle files trademark infringement suit against bothersome SEO/SEM company. Google has sued Local Lighthouse Corp, which has undertaken a massive robocall and telemarketing campaign and, from personal experience, tried to trick callers into thinking ... Continue Reading1 Comment
Domain Development Legal Mistakes with Enrico Schaefer – DNW Podcast #47
· PodcastsDon't make these mistakes when developing a domain name into a full website. Are you developing some of your domain names? You'll want to listen to this week's interview with Enrico Schaefer of Traverse Legal. Enrico discusses 5 things you need to do ... Continue Reading1 Comment
Web design company sues GoDaddy over “It’s Go Time” slogan
· Domain RegistrarsCompany says it was using the slogan first. A small web development company is suing GoDaddy over its "It's Go Time" slogan, arguing that it started using the moniker well before GoDaddy adopted it. Plaintiff The Easy Life, LLC runs GoWeb1. The ... Continue Reading10 Comments
See all 152 trademark apps filed by the Trademark King (at a cost of $50k!)
· Policy & LawGuy spends nearly $50,000 on application fees to try to trademark terms such as Google.com, NCAA Final Four and Elvis.com. I've written a couple times about Trademark King Inc, an Indiana business that filed a lot of trademark applications matching ... Continue Reading17 Comments
Guy tries to trademark one of Rick Schwartz’s domain names
· Policy & LawThis one will be interesting. This morning I was perusing recently filed trademark applications when I came across an application for Trademarking.com. When I checked the whois on the domain name, I saw that the domain was registered to domain name ... Continue Reading23 Comments
This simple visualization illustrates the reality of brand protection in new TLDs
· Policy & LawA visualization of reality for brand protection costs and new top level domain names. One thing that's clear from talking to various people at ICANN 50 this week is that they are surprised by the low level of defensive trademark registrations in new ... Continue Reading7 Comments