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Here’s why NAR can trademark “.Realtor”

by — Policy & Law 2 Comments

.Realtor should qualify under updated USPTO guidelines for trademarking top level domain names.

The .Realtor website. They might want to add a TM to .REALTOR, but they should be able to trademark it.

The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) has filed a trademark application for “.REALTOR”.

I’ve harped about how the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office doesn’t allow trademarks for top level domain names, but this case is different.

The USPTO has updated its guidelines because brands were applying for top level domain names. It changed the guidelines to allow trademarks for “dot-brands” in certain circumstances. Four guidelines must be met. Click here to continue reading…

Attorney warns about spoof TMVIEW search site

by — Policy & Law 10 Comments

Site could be tracking trademark searches.

Attorney John Berryhill is warning people about a website that he says is spoofing the popular TMview trademark search database. It appears that a business tied to Michael Gleissner is running the site.

The official TMview website run by EUIPO is at tmdn.org. It lets people search across multiple trademark databases, and is a popular site for trademark attorneys running preliminary checks.

If you go to TMview.com, however, you’ll see a site that looks very much like TMDN.org. The links at the top for “about” and “news” etc. don’t work, and the news updates are a couple years old. Here’s a comparison:

The site on the left is TMview.com and the right is TMDN.org.

If you submit a search on the fake site it forwards you to the real site but doesn’t perform the search. Berryhill believes it’s set up to record searches that attorneys are using to run preliminary checks before filings trademarks.

So who is behind the spoof site? The domain is registered to Institute of Advanced Networking Technologies LLC, but the whois email address is domains@corp.bigfoot.com.

Bigfoot is a company connected to Michael Gleissner, who has been criticized for questionable trademark filings and activities. His companies have lost many UDRPs for dictionary words, were ordered by UK’s Intellectual Property Office to pay a fine to Apple, and have filed trademarks matching .com domain names they don’t own. One of Bigfoot’s employees even suggested on his LinkedIn page that he was in the business of reverse domain name hijacking domain names.

So you can understand why Berryhill says this site is up to no good. Could trademark searches performed on the spoof site be correlated to trademark applications made by firms tied to Gleissner or domains registered?

Cost of Donuts’ DPML trademark protection service to soar

by — Services 2 Comments

At least one registrar is increasing the price by 76% as new TLD company hikes price of brand protection service.

Top level domain name provider Donuts will significantly increase the price of its Domains Protected Marks List (DPML) on January 1, 2017.

DPML enables trademark holders to block certain second level strings across its entire portfolio of nearly 200 top level domain names. Trademark holders use the service to prevent cybersquatting on their brand names.

The company previously revealed that an increase would take place next year, but did not say how much.

While the company still declines to say how much the wholesale price is or what it will be next year, domain name registrar Hexonet recently informed customers of the upcoming price hike. Click here to read the story…

Company wants to trademark Pets.com, X.com and famous slogans

by — Policy & Law 19 Comments

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. Click here to continue reading…

Trademarks and Copyrights with Daliah Saper – DNW Podcast #83

by — Podcasts 2 Comments

A crash course in trademarks and copyright for domain name investors.

Domain Name Wire podcastWhat do domain name investors and domain developers need to know about trademarks and copyrights? Daliah Saper of Saper Law gives a quick crash course on today’s podcast, including trademarking a domain name. I consider myself well-versed in this topic, but I learned quite a bit. You will too.

Also: a long wait for more top level domains, GoDaddy earnings, Donuts Labs, say goodbye to .gb, and Mrs. Jones wants to go to Washington.

Subscribe via iTunes to listen to the Domain Name Wire podcast on your iPhone or iPad, or click play below or download to begin listening. (Listen to previous podcasts here.)

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