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.