Google applied for a trademark on “Photovine” on June 7 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
As of June 14, it appears Google owns photovine.com. The company appears to have taken ownership of the domain name from Matthew Gibson, who had previously owned the name since January 2010 according to WHOIS records.
Although it doesn’t say on the WHOIS records that Google owns the domain, Google like many large companies uses MarkMonitor and DNStination, privacy and brand protection services.
Registrant:
Domain Administrator
DNStination Inc.
303 Second Street Suite 800N
San Francisco CA 94107
Domain Name: photovine.com
Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
Created on…………..: 2004-10-28.
Expires on…………..: 2013-10-28.
Record last updated on..: 2011-06-13.
I had reached out yesterday to Matthew Gibson (the previous owner) for a statement and to learn more about the negotiations, but I haven’t heard anything at the time of this story.
So what exactly is Photovine?
Very little is known at this time, outside of the trademark application the company filed earlier this month. In 2004, Google acquired Picasa, a photo software and sharing service.
But is Google planning to take on Apple’s iCloud Photo Stream service?
Here’s a look at the trademark filing:
Word Mark PHOTOVINE
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer software
IC 038. US 100 101 104. G & S: Communication services, namely, transmission of visual images and data by telecommunications networks, wireless communication networks, the Internet, information services networks and data networks
IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Non-downloadable computer software
IC 045. US 100 101. G & S: On-line social networking services
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 85340503
Filing Date June 7, 2011
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) Google Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View CALIFORNIA 94043
Attorney of Record Andrew Abrams
Type of Mark TRADEMARK. SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
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