Category: Trademarks

UPDATED: R3D Entertainment files trademark for 3D.com, buying domain

Post author By J.B.
Post date June 23, 2011

Updated June 23, 2011, 6:40 PM: I received an email from Lanny Rutkin, owner of R3D Entertainment, telling me that his company is buying the domain name 3D.com.

Original: I just did a search on the US Patent and Trademark Office website (USPTO.gov) and discovered a trademark filing for “3D.com” for promoting the goods and services of others by providing a website featuring 3D and 3DS images, photos and videos.

R3D Entertainment Incorporated, a company that owns a portfolio of 3D stereoscopic websites specializing in publishing and distributing 3D, is the applicant.

The application was filed on June 13, 2011, a week after Sedo Broker Ryan Colby tweeted that negotations for the domain 3D.com were heating up.

Although Ryan hasn’t tweeted any updates specifically about 3D.com since June 6, he did recently tweet that a $1,000,000 offer had been made on an undisclosed name.

Now, I could be wrong, but here’s where the story gets strange.

R3D Entertainment, whose company website is located at Definitive3D.com, doesn’t appear to be the current owner of 3D.com, in fact, R3D Entertainment doesn’t even own R3D.com, according to WHOIS records. If the company can’t afford R3D.com, it most likely doesn’t have the massive amount of cash needed to buy 3D.com.

So, is the company the mystery buyer currently in “heated negotiations” to buy the name?

Or, is Lanny Rutkin of R3D Entertainment, who owns over 1,000 domain names with the word “3D”, trying the same failed smoke and mirrors technique as AOL attempted with its claim on Ad.com (a domain it doesn’t even own)?

On April 16, 2001, the only existing trademark for 3D.com filed by Chequemate International, was abandoned.

I’ve reached out for comment to Lanny Rutkin and Ryan Colby. I will update the story, if I hear back.

(Photo of Transformers War for Cybertron via Activision)

Tags AD.com, AOL, Definitive3D, Lanny Rutkin, R3D, Ryan Colby, Sedo.com, uspto

News Trademarks

Bad news for domain sleuths, Go Daddy finally fixes WHOIS Privacy leaks in Account Retrieval System

Post author By J.B.
Post date June 22, 2011
3 Comments on Bad news for domain sleuths, Go Daddy finally fixes WHOIS Privacy leaks in Account Retrieval System

Go Daddy has finally fixed a huge privacy leak issue that was first reported and publicized by Abdu Tarabichi back in March: revealing partial e-mail addresses of domain owners.

The flaw gave anyone the ability to see a partial e-mail address of a registrant, even if the registrant had used Go Daddy’s privacy service, Domains by Proxy, Inc.

For people to see the partial e-mail address, all one had to do was simply try and retrieve a customer number online from Go Daddy’s main website. In the past, to retrieve a customer number online, you would select a product from a list (for example “Domain Name”), enter a security access code by retyping the graphic number shown on screen, then Go Daddy would display a partially masked email address on the screen that corresponded to the domain name you entered, such as ****email.com.

In fact, it made it somewhat easy for domain sleuths to see which company registered a domain name, that is, if the company happened to use a corporate email address such as ***zynga.com.

Social gaming giant Zynga finally started using a generic Yahoo! email address in order to keep its domain registrations a better kept secret. The company regularly uses Go Daddy’s privacy services, but after a number of stories revealed it was the owner of certain domain names, the company switched away from its company address.

The change to Go Daddy’s Account Retrieval System fixes the way that you retrieve customer numbers online.

Go Daddy now requires you to enter the email address on the account, as an additional step.

Here’s a look at the old way of doing things. Go Daddy has yet to update its Online Help.

Tags Domain privacy services, Domains by Proxy

News Trademarks

Marvel to unveil new social networking service called Blip

Post author By J.B.
Post date June 18, 2011
3 Comments on Marvel to unveil new social networking service called Blip

Activision recently announced its foray into online social networking with “Call of Duty Elite” rolling out this November, and now it appears as if Marvel the comics giant, will be launching its own service called “Blip”.

According to eight recent filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (submitted on June 14) Marvel has some big plans.

All the applications centered on “Blip” and “Blip.com”.

In addition to the trademark applications, Marvel also acquired the domain name (which currently doesn’t resolve) this month according to WHOIS records. The owner switched from Future Publishing Ltd to Marvel.

Registrant:
        Richie Waite
        Marvel Characters, Inc.
        1600 Rosecrans Ave Suite 350
         Manhattan Beach CA 90266
        US
        [email protected]

    Domain Name: blip.com        Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
        Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
        Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.com

Marvel hasn’t revealed any details on Blip or even discussed it publicly. The only evidence of the company’s plans are the trademark filings and domain acquisition.

What kind of trademarks did Marvel apply for?

Here’s a quick look at the trademarks that were submitted for “Blip” and “Blip.com”.

IC 045. US 100 101. G & S: social networking services; providing computer game software, applications and development tools to social networking websites for entertainment purposes and to enhance social networking experiences; providing an Internet website portal featuring social networking opportunities, applications, computer games and links to other websites for the purpose of social networking.

IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer game programmes downloadable via the Internet; Computer game programs; Computer game software; Computer game software downloadable from a global computer network; Computer software development tools; Computer software, namely, game engine software for video game development and operation; Downloadable computer game programs; Downloadable computer game software via a global computer network and wireless devices; Downloadable computer programs featuring positionable game piece figures for use in the field of computer games; Interactive multimedia computer game program; Interactive video game programs; Interactive video games of virtual reality comprised of computer hardware for use with an external monitor and software; Video game software.

IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: computer services, namely, software development services, computer programming, design, development and deployment of computer games, video games, online games, game related applications and development tools for others; computer game development and integration services; providing a website on the internet for hosting computer games; providing a website featuring non-downloadable software tools for use in accessing, playing and tracking performance regarding computer games provided online and via computers, mobile computers and wireless devices, and for communicating with other players of such games, and for creating and hosting micro websites for others

IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment services, namely, providing a web site featuring photographic, video and prose presentations featuring news and information regarding computer games, computer game enhancements and development tools, social networking tools and opportunities, and links to other web sites that feature computer games and related news and information; Entertainment services, namely, providing on-line computer games; Providing information on-line relating to computer games and computer enhancements for games; Provision of information relating to electronic computer games provided via the Internet.

Discussion: Newsarama

(Photo of Marvel Characters via Marvel.com)

Tags Blip, Blip.com, featured, Marvel, Marvel Characters, uspto

News Trademarks

Dozens of domain registrations by J.K. Rowling’s firm may lead to more clues in Pottermore.com mystery

Post author By J.B.
Post date June 18, 2011
4 Comments on Dozens of domain registrations by J.K. Rowling’s firm may lead to more clues in Pottermore.com mystery

The Christopher Little Literary Agency, the firm behind J. K. Rowling and the Harry Potter novels, launched a mysterious, new website this week that offers few clues as to what lies ahead.

The one-page “Coming Soon” website has nothing more than two owls that, when clicked, take you to a YouTube countdown video and even more “unknowns”. What fans do know, is that the full details of Pottermore will be revealed in less than a week on Wednesday, June 22, but for now everyone is guessing what it’ll be.

I did a little sleuthing around the Name Servers (NetNames.net) where Pottermore.com resides and unearthed dozens of domain names registered by the Christopher Little Literary Agency, going all the way back to June 2009 when the name was first registered.

Registrant:
Christopher Little Literary Agency
10 Eel Brook Studios
125 Moore Park Rd
London
SW6 4PS
UK

Domain name: pottermore.com
Created on: 2009-06-25
Expires on: 2011-06-25

From books to games to stores, the domain names registered started back in 2009 and picked up again around November 2010. WARNING: The firm purchased dozens of defensive registrations, so the language in some cases is funny like PotterSnore.com, others a bit more graphic like PotterWhore.org. Don’t believe J.K. Rowling’s firm registered the name? See the WHOIS records for yourself.

Here’s a list of nearly 150 domain names I dug up that are registered to J.K. Rowling’s firm, most dating back to the winter of 2010.

The trademark for the word “Pottermore” was registered by Warner Bros two years ago, shortly after Pottermore.com was registered on June 25, 2009.

Tags Christopher Little Literary Agency, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Name Servers, NetNames, Pottermore

News Technology Trademarks

Google set to launch Photovine? It applied for the trademark, now it owns the matching domain name

Post author By J.B.
Post date June 18, 2011
16 Comments on Google set to launch Photovine? It applied for the trademark, now it owns the matching domain name

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

Discussion: Engadget, TechMeme, Digital Trends, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Business Insider, The Next Web and Techie Buzz.

Tags google, Google Domains, Photovine, social photo service, uspto