Month: December 2011

Categories
News Trademarks Video Games

WB Games planning GreyFoundry video game according to trademark, domains

WB Games

It appears Warner Bros. may be developing a new video game called GreyFoundry.

On December 15, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. filed four separate trademark filings (85493271, 85493265, 85493259 and 85493253) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, two of which cover video game software and online video games.

In addition to the trademark applications, it looks as though Warner Bros. may have secured the domain rights to greyfoundry.com, greyfoundry.net, and greyfoundry.org.  According to WHOIS records the domains aren’t registered to Warner Bros., instead, each name is registered to Kite Inc., a full-service strategy and design firm that helps companies build brands. 

Kite counts amongst its customers: WB Games Seattle (screenshot).  WB Games Seattle was recently in the news after laying off dozens of employees.

At the time of this story going online, Warner Bros. has not made any announcement about a new video game called GreyFoundry. 

Here’s a look at the Goods and Services covered in two of the trademark applications:

Serial Number: 85493271
Designing and developing computer game software and video game software for use with computers, video game program systems and computer networks; Computer software design; Video game development services; Video game programming development services

Serial Number: 85493265
Entertainment services, namely, providing online video games, providing online computer games, providing temporary use of non-downloadable video games; Production of video and computer game software; Entertainment services in the nature of live-action, comedy, drama and animated television series; production of live-action, comedy, drama and animated television series; distribution and display of live-action, comedy, drama and animated motion picture theatrical films; production of live-action, comedy, drama and animated motion picture theatrical films; theatrical performances both animated and live action; Internet services providing information via an electronic global computer network in the field of entertainment relating specifically to games, movies, and television; providing a web site featuring film clips, photographs and other multimedia materials; providing information for and actual entertainment via an electronic global communications network in the nature of live-action, comedy, drama and animated programs and production of live-action comedy, action and animated motion films for distribution via a global computer network; conducting contests on-line; providing a computer game that may be accessed by a telecommunications network; and electronic publishing services, namely, publication of text and graphic works of others on-line featuring articles, novelizations, scripts, comic books, strategy guides, photographs and visual materials

Categories
News

Googlighting.com: Is Google’s Android-controlled light bulb closer to market?

Google Lighting Science Group Android-Controlled LED Lightbulb

Last May, Google unveiled its Android-controlled LED light bulb at its I/O developer conference. 

The light bulb, which was developed with Lighting Science Group, connects to the Android operating system using a new wireless protocol.  Google originally said the light bulb would start selling before the end of the year, but with the New Year only a couple weeks away, it looks it may be a little bit longer before the light bulb shows up on store shelves.

As part of its marketing activities, it appears Google may launch a website on Googlighting.com, a domain name it apparently registered on December 16 (WHOIS).  Googlighting.net was also registered on the same day.

Both names were registered through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, which Google regularly uses to acquire domain names.  Currently, the owner of each domain is hidden behind MarkMonitor’s WHOIS privacy service ‘DNStinations’, but you can bet your money that Google is the registrant, considering MarkMonitor’s client list includes over half of the Fortune 100 companies.

As of today, Googlighting.com doesn’t resolve to a web page.

[Update 1 on February 21, 2012: Turns out Google wasn’t behind the domain registrations, Microsoft was.  According to BGR, “Microsoft has launched an all-out assault on Google and its cloud-based Google Apps product.”]

Discussion: Marketing Land

Categories
News

Instead of filing a legal dispute, Tumblr buys the domain name tumblr.org

Tumblr.org

Not all domain name registrations that infringe on a popular trademark end in legal dispute…some end in a pay day for the owner.  

That’s what happened with the domain name tumblr.org this week.

On December 14, tumblr.org switched owners from Kevin Marsh of Ohio to the tenth largest social network in the world: Tumblr.

What’s interesting about tumblr.org, is that it hosted Marsh’s Tumblr blog – Willcodeforfoo (screenshot).

I reached out to Marsh by email for some information on the exchange and to see if Tumblr had sent a cease-and-desist letter.  I was surprised to learn, that not only was Tumblr not looking to pick a legal fight, but that “They [Tumblr Inc] were really great throughout the process”, according to Marsh.

Due to a non disclosure agreement, Marsh wasn’t able to share many details about the transaction.

What he did tell me about the price tag, was that the sale amount ended in a “0”.

While most professional domainers would never recommend registering a domain that infringes on a trademark, sometimes offering cash for a domain can be quicker and cheaper for big companies trying to obtain that domain. 

For the record, Tumblr Inc. does own the trademark on ‘Tumblr’. 

The company, which has only submitted one trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to date, filed the application (Serial Number: 77601575) back in 2008, a year after the company was founded.

Tumblr.com was first registered in June 2006 by the company’s founder David Karp.  Tumblr.org was registered a month later in July by Marsh, according to WHOIS history records furnished by DomainTools.

Categories
News

Google registers ‘Value of the Web’

Value of the Web

It looks like Google is getting ready to market another one of its products or services.

On December 14, the search engine giant registered the domain name valueoftheweb.com through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor.  Google also picked up the dot-net and dot-org.

As with many of its thousands of names, they may end up being nothing more than part of the company’s defensive domain strategy.

Recently though, new registrations have hinted at something more.

In late November Google registered a number of Google Gives Back domains, then launched its Google Gives Back 2011 website this week. It also purchased the domain Schemer.com in early November, which launched online earlier this month and is currently in invite-only beta period.

Last week, the search company accidentally revealed the acquisition of RightsFlow through domain registrations.  As first reported here, news of the registrations appeared online hours before an official announcement was made.

On the same day Google registered valueofthweb.com, it also registered betternet.org and its typo beternet.org.

Discussion: Search Engine Land

Categories
Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Actress Rose McGowan wants her name, files dispute for rosemcgowan.com

Rose Mcgowan

Actress and singer Rose McGowan has apparently filed a complaint (Case Number: 1419570) over the domain name RoseMcGowan.com with the National Arbitration Forum.

First registered over ten years ago, today, rosemcgowan.com is parked with HITFARM (part of the Reinvent Media Group), an online monetization service for domain names.   

The rosemcgowan.com website currently displays third-party ads, many having to do with her career, such as Netflix ads for the supernatural drama television series Charmed, which she is well-known for. 

The owner of the domain name is currently hidden behind WHOIS privacy, according to registrant records.

Because the National Arbitration Forum doesn’t publicly identify complainants on its website until a decision has been handed down by a panel, the official complainant isn’t immediately known.  As domain disputes usually go though, it’s all but guaranteed that Rose McGowan filed the complaint.

In the online world, Rose McGowan is an active Twitter user, with nearly 200,000 followers.  However, outside of fan pages and information on websites like IMDB, apparently she has no official site to call her own.