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.
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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)