TM issue with my blog

[kunalmg]

Hello,

I have a blog which has the URL techtickerblog.com I used to blog on blogger from 2004 and bought a domain this year. Now the problem is, I got a mail from the owner of techticker.com saying that 'tech ticker' is trademarked and i cannot use it. He has asked me to change the URL or he will take a legal action agianst me. I tried to search it 'tech ticker' on USPTO but I couldn't find anything like that TMed. He has parked his domain for more than a year (i suppose from the time he bought it). Well I have content on my blog from 2004.

So should I change the domain name taking the fact that Mercury News also uses Tech Ticker as a name and also he did not tell me when I was hosted on blogger.com (Google Inc.). And finally the guy is from US and I am from India. Hoping to get some advice.

Thank You in advance.
Kunal Gangar.

 

[Mr. Deleted]

what is the link to the tm search again? I was looking for it.

 

[Blarian]

Mr. D the US one?
http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm

 

[Mr. Deleted]

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=6pqjju.1.1

that is what I wanted

 

[Mr. Deleted]

DETAILS:
Domain Name techticker.com without content.

DOMAIN STATISTICS:
Visitors to this Sedo Listing*: 1
Unique Visitors per month*: 35
* Data from the previous 32 days
Previous Offers for this Domain: 2

I see no TM's there and he only had 35 hits this last month, so I would not even worry about that guy.

 

[kunalmg]

I see no TM's there and he only had 35 hits this last month, so I would not even worry about that guy.

the one hit this month is frm me.

 

[Leading Names]

Hello,

I have a blog which has the URL techtickerblog.com I used to blog on blogger from 2004 and bought a domain this year. Now the problem is, I got a mail from the owner of techticker.com saying that 'tech ticker' is trademarked and i cannot use it. He has asked me to change the URL or he will take a legal action agianst me. I tried to search it 'tech ticker' on USPTO but I couldn't find anything like that TMed. He has parked his domain for more than a year (i suppose from the time he bought it). Well I have content on my blog from 2004.

So should I change the domain name taking the fact that Mercury News also uses Tech Ticker as a name and also he did not tell me when I was hosted on blogger.com (Google Inc.). And finally the guy is from US and I am from India. Hoping to get some advice.

Thank You in advance.
Kunal Gangar.

Tell him to go take a jump off a cliff.

No US trademark.

It's been parked since November 2002 and is currently listed for sale. The domain was registered on the 24th of September 2002 so it's been parked ever since he registered it.

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://techticker.com

- Rob

 

[kunalmg]

thanks rob Mr. D and Blarian for your reply. I was really worried bout it.

 

[DNQuest.com]

One can only earn a TM through commercial usage of a name. He clearly does not have a common law TM. Tell him he does not have a TM and any attempt would be frivolous on his part and you will take him to court to recover monies lost defending yourself if he proceeds.

 

[kunalmg]

Guys he has served me an ultimatum for not using 'Tech Ticker' name and should be removed within 48 hours. Or else he will seek legal action. I have asked him for a proof.

 

[Mr. Deleted]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Tech+Ticker

16,600,000 for Tech Ticker ...with 16M results in google it is generic, I would not worry one bit about him. Besides your blogspot link is #1 in google for the term.

 

[kunalmg]

The reply I got from him when I responded to his mail:

"I'm not talking about an official trademark (yet). I'm talking about
an implied trademark to the name... I've owned the name much longer
than you and I have more rights to it. Regardless, it's up to you
whether you want to compete head to head with me with the same name.
I will make it clear that you tried purchasing the name and couldn't
but decided to use it anyway. Everyone will know you copied the name
after they see my techticker.com compared to your techtickerblog.com.
When you couldn't buy the domain name, you should have just chosen a
different one. Now it's going to be a huge mess... trust me. Just
pick a new name that isn't a rip-off of someone else."

I had asked before for buying the domain, he had more than $1000 for techticker.com. I obviously cant afford it and bought a new one. Since its not trademarked, so I can use it? Right?

 

[Mr. Deleted]

Ofcourse, we have been telling you this. It is not like he is a famous mark like Yahoo Inc.! And a TM is not a TM till it is approved, so you could even dispute his TM, since he does not use it in business. he apparently registered, then parked it for all these years, and that is not a "use in business", it is domain parking, which at 35 hits a month is not going to earn him anything. You on the other hand are useing the domain in good faith, as you had a site even before you started the current site.

 

[kunalmg]

Thank You again Mr.Deleted fro replying

 

[DNQuest.com]

Ofcourse, we have been telling you this. It is not like he is a famous mark like Yahoo Inc.! And a TM is not a TM till it is approved, so you could even dispute his TM, since he does not use it in business. he apparently registered, then parked it for all these years, and that is not a "use in business", it is domain parking, which at 35 hits a month is not going to earn him anything. You on the other hand are useing the domain in good faith, as you had a site even before you started the current site.

Mr Deleted, to correct you, a TM does not have to be approved by anyone, only a registered mark needs to be approved.

But the jist is correct, he has not used it in commerce and has no legal rights to the domain. If anything, you are the one establishing your name, not him.

Make sure you ahve screen shots of his pages showing "non-usage". The guy is blowing smoke and you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Dave Zan]

"I'm not talking about an official trademark (yet). I'm talking about
an implied trademark to the name... I've owned the name much longer
than you and I have more rights to it. Regardless, it's up to you
whether you want to compete head to head with me with the same name.

Wooooooo...what a load of BS. Too bad this guy believes in some absolute
magical TM rights to a domain name.

I doubt even sending him links to authoritative resources explaining such will
make him change his mind. Forget about him.

For me, do as DNQuest suggested. You'd better not talk to this guy anymore.

And yes, you can use it.

 

[kunalmg]

finally he has stop bugging me . I would like to thank everyone for their comments and suggestions

 

[labrocca]

This is BS and he can't do jack actually. Any decent lawyer will tell him so. Under his logic he copied tech.com and should give up his domain to them.

Just ignore the guy. The worse thing you can do is to actually corresponde with him at this point. Just trash his emails. Don't even read them as they might just make you upset. He is a silly silly man with silly silly ideas.

 

[DNQuest.com]

Actually, I would save the emails in case he is a real nut job and actual pursues a frivolous lawsuit.... and then show he is nuts lol