Report TM Infringers Who Post on DNForum

[ilovedomains]

Actually, there is a policy on famous trademarks, like Microsoft-owned, that Adam established at some point. He needs to confirm that. It goes back to the days of the MSFT attorney who became a member here.

Again there is no wrong until the TM holder complains. When an attorney comes on the board and starts complaining, maybe thats a different story.

I doubt if allowing TM posts on a board is any kind of offense, but when its Microsoft compaining, who wants to find out.

 

[draggar]

Actually we should care.
It's no wonder politicians like Mrs Snowe come up with silly bills that have the power to destroy our industry. It's because they were giventhe ammo in the first place.
Anybody who is not a domainer would welcome the Snowe Bill, after all in the mind of many people we are evil cybersquatters and Internet parasites that must be eradicated. The good times are not forever.

The reason why Joe Average would welcome the Snowe Bill is because politicians love to give them misleading names like "The Anti Phishing Consumer Protection act of 2008". 99% of Americans don't even look at what the law includes, they just read the name and think that is what the act is about. (and this is why I am NOT voting for Bill Nelson if I see his name on the ballot).

They could make a bill called "The anti child pornography innocent victim's protection act" and use that as a cover to censor the whole internet and the average US citizen would welcome it with open arms even though it is a blatant violation of our constitution (freedom of press and speech).

 

[Raider]

What's the sense in having rules if their not enforced?.... If were going to allow obvious TM's, it's time we dump rule 25.

 

[allroundguy]

Brother ...
Google returns today about 309.000.000 for the word Brother.
Is Brother generic, or not?
Can it be TM'ed?
Why yes, or why not?
There are things not right in the TM systems.
Let us think a little.


In any group there needs to be some mutual agreement about certain behavior.
That is the origin of rules, regulations, laws, etc. prescribing what, how, when, where, etc. things should be done or not done.
However, it is clear that we entered a period of stupid excessive unnecessary and principally emotional decisions from people who have not the slightest idea what they are talking about.
That's a world-wide phenomenon of pseudo-democracy that could well be a form of demagogy.
Freedom is gone.
The TM idea is to protect the originator of a commercially exploitable product or a service.
Strictly put, TM protection is for a name in a category (or several categories) as can be seen at the USPTO website and most countries' similar webs.
For as long as there is no confusion about the identity or/and the product connected to a TM, there should be no reason to bother about.
In the domain industry, a number of people had problems because they used an SLD that was used with a certain TLD together with another TLD.
That is usually rules to be TM infringement.
But there should be no problem for a company to use domain, if it points to a product or a service that is similar in another location or different in the same location.
TM is about protection - Not vanity.
Carlton has a point, but when we look at todays TM mechanics, we'd better go for business as usual for so far as we think we can go without stepping on toes.
Look: Everything is regulated from our birth to our death.
Not just "Thou Shalt Not Steal" etc.
The day comes that others will decide if we can have onions on our burger ...
TM is okay, butt ...

Anyway, there are cyber cops around in several countries.
If somebody feels he should do something about certain things, so be it.
Carlto, if You have time to police TM infringement, it's okay for me.
But agree that people should not eat where they SSSHHHTTT ...

 

[Focus]

But agree that people should not eat where they SSSHHHTTT ...

Or sh*t where they eat for that matter..

Good post allaroundguy! k:

 

[ksinclair]

I'd really like to see the community call this stuff out when it happens ... and eradicate it. It's wrong when infringers list TM's in the forums and it degrades the entire industry. I've called a few people out already in threads and via PM. The ones I challenged knew they were exploiting TM domains and stopped when they got called on it. There's no way to justify dealing in brands and trademarks.
Blast away, or tell it like you see it.

Carlton,

Outside of domaining, like when you are in "real life", shopping and working and driving around and such, do you worry about Trademark infringement? Probably not.

On the forums, etc, maybe each of us should only worry if we are personally infringed upon.

Domains posted on forums are findable by search engines, usually; so if a potentially infringed-upon party wants to go after infringers, they can find them.

I dont know how to tell what an infringing is. A webpage is different, as it might show a logo or links to a trademark holders specific market; but a domain by itself is much harder. How about the domain Marlboro(.)com? Can only Philip Morris own that? And not the city of Marlboro, the high school, etc? (Philip Morris took it from the domain owner). How about Coke(.)org, must that be owned by Coca-cola? Coke is also a mining term and other meanings. Yet Coke and Marlboro are two of the strongest marks in business.

In the diverse, multi-lingual internet there are multple meanings for most strings of letters.

Its how you use it that matters; some people do infringe. But we should be careful not to become a tool of corporate lawyers.

Kevin

 

[Donald Aquilano]

25. Sales of obvious TM domains will not be allowed. Questionable/objectionable domains are one thing, but an obvious TM infringement is not allowed for sale here. Common sense applies here. If you post it and it's a known TM or TM typo, it will be removed.

As soon as the parasite lawyers get around to suing forum owners for allowing obvious/questionable TM domains to be sold on their forums then you will see them take enforcement of the rule above much more seriously. Until then it will be business as usual.

 

[broe-foe]

I didn't know there WAS trademark law in China. I noticed lots of TM's with zero generic value registered in .mobi by registrants in China. They must be desperate there.

 

[draggar]

Brother ...
Google returns today about 309.000.000 for the word Brother.
Is Brother generic, or not?
Can it be TM'ed?
Why yes, or why not?
There are things not right in the TM systems.
Let us think a little.

As said before, it's not the domain, especially if it is a generic term, that infringes on the TM, it's how it's used.

If I had Brother.com and used it to sell label printers, printers, multifunction devices, fax machines, word processors, typewriters (yes, some people still use those) etc.. I'm sure I would get WIPO'ed.

But, if I used it for a site about brothers (two males from the same parents / siblings) then Brother (the company) would have a tough time going after it since it is not going against their trademark (that's the downside of using a generic term for your company's name).

 

[fab]

With all that we know and have seen, domainers on the forums still post domains "for sale" that are obvious TM infringement. What is the position of DNForum on reporting such threads?

Oddly enough, there actually is no such thing as an obvious TM infringement, since, trademarks are limited, i.e., they only protect a limited usage, which depends upon the purchasers actual usage. The best example is Nissan, an obvious TM, but legal. Likely TM infringement is actually correct. So, theoretically, Microsoft, OfficeDepot, etc., could all be used legally.

 

[MAllie]

Carlton...let me just put it in a nice way...you don't sh*t where you eat.

Focus, I think Carlton's point may have been that this is what's happening when domainers on a respected forum appear to be flouting TM laws.

For me, there's a very fine line between minding your own business and not acting as judge and jury, and condoning particular behaviour through your silence.

This may only be a domain forum, and not particularly important in terms of greater world events, but we all know what has happened in history when those who perceive something to be wrong decide not to speak out about it.

One of the ideals I think most attractive about the American dream is the right to speak your mind freely, whether on a domain forum or anywhere else, unless what you say in some way breaks the law (through racism, etc.)

I congratulate Carlton on his attempt to provoke a meaningful discussion on trademarks in domaining even though, as so often happens on forums, it is his intention rather than what he is saying that gets attacked as a result.

However, to be fair, I have seen some comments in the Appraisals' section that particular names may have TM problems. Once this has been pointed out, it is then up to the individual to do something about it.

 

[katherine]

25. Sales of obvious TM domains will not be allowed. Questionable/objectionable domains are one thing, but an obvious TM infringement is not allowed for sale here. Common sense applies here. If you post it and it's a known TM or TM typo, it will be removed.

I think that rule is fine and balanced.
I saw cocacola.me on sale at the other forum lol. As a forum owner I would quietly close blatant sales like that.
Just to make it clear, I don't like snitching. Self-regulation is always best.

 

[MAllie]

Just to make it clear, I don't like snitching. Self-regulation is always best.

Of course self-regulation is always best, but it requires a highly-developed sense of morality. The problem is that the word 'snitch' when used by members suggests that they are aware that there is something wrong going on.

 

[Sonny Banks]

Of course self-regulation is always best, but it requires a highly-developed sense of morality. The problem is that the word 'snitch' when used by members suggests that they are aware that there is something wrong going on.

A snitch is a snitch.
Not much to say.

 

[tonyfloyd]

RAT

 

[MAllie]

A snitch is a snitch.
Not much to say.

That doesn't say much more than 'what is is,' which is obvious to most of us. The question is, is it snitching to post one's genuine concerns on an open forum to which one belongs? I've always understood snitching (or, to use an Irish word, informing) to be something that is done secretly, with no possibility of being abused for it. It seems to me that to be prepared to make a statement openly without thought for the consequences is something quite different, and imo very laudable.

 

[Sonny Banks]

That doesn't say much more than 'what is is,' which is obvious to most of us. The question is, is it snitching to post one's genuine concerns on an open forum to which one belongs? I've always understood snitching (or, to use an Irish word, informing) to be something that is done secretly, with no possibility of being abused for it. It seems to me that to be prepared to make a statement openly without thought for the consequences is something quite different, and imo very laudable.

We here are not a simple trash forum.
We are a community.
We are a family.
It's more than business for some of us.
So you don't snitch if one of your brothers make something wrong...you can send him a Pm and express your opinions in private but like Focus said before you don't shit where you eat.

 

[Donald Aquilano]

We here are not a simple trash forum.
We are a community.
We are a family.
It's more than business for some of us.
So you don't snitch if one of your brothers make something wrong...you can send him a Pm and express your opinions in private but like Focus said before you don't shit where you eat.

Stop with the family nonsense. You and I aren't family. This is a BUSINESS forum plain and simple and you should remember that there are rules to follow here.

I like to say one thing about snitching. In Baltimore City which is not to far from where I live people believe so much in not snitching that drug dealers, thugs, gang bangers etc. get away with the shit they do. In some neighborhoods the citizens are so fearful of being labeled a snitch that many will not testify against anyone. As long as this type of thinking remains parts of Baltimore City(West Baltimore) will remain a shit hole.

 

[Jeffreyw]

The only thing we can do is educate others not to buy TM and why it ruins domainers' reputation.

Post it in the forums and write it on blogs and news sites.

Sorry, i cannot report TM infringers.

 

[Sonny Banks]

Stop with the family nonsense. You and I aren't family. This is a BUSINESS forum plain and simple and you should remember that there are rules to follow here.

I like to say one thing about snitching. In Baltimore City which is not to far from where I live people believe so much in not snitching that drug dealers, thugs, gang bangers etc. get away with the shit they do. In some neighborhoods the citizens are so fearful of being labeled a snitch that many will not testify against anyone. As long as this type of thinking remains parts of Baltimore City(West Baltimore) will remain a shit hole.

I said SOME OF US.
Not you.
You're right.
Me and you are not a family.
This is the reason I never spent a dime on your names and never will.

Don't talk to me about the meaning of the word snitching...come in Italy where I live, talk bad about someone and snitch...you return at home inside a cellophane.

Or you are another guy that love the idea to report all TM domains for sale here?