4 ms·
Recently going through something very similar. I purchased a domain name for an app I was about to release, but it happened to conflict with a random German pha
by programmarchy 5y ago
Recently going through something very similar. I purchased a domain name for an app I was about to release, but it happened to conflict with a random German pharmaceutical drug for pets. There’s no industry overlap so I should be entitled to a trademark. But I got roped into a domain dispute case with WIPO for my .app domain. My lawyer said I could probably win the WIPO case, but the company would simply re-open the case in some other jurisdiction. Since my app is pre-revenue, I can’t really fight it. My lawyer recommended even though I was in the right, I should give up the fight because it could cost 100s of thousands of dollars with no guarantee of success.
The lesson I learned is that before purchasing a domain name, secure a trademark from the USPTO. It’s not cheap though. Can run $300 to $1000, which is nothing for a big corporation, but a big barrier for individual creators trying to get something off the ground.
This experience made me lose a lot of faith in “the law”. Rather than an level playing field among equals, it seems more like a protective moat for the rich and powerful.
- redisman 5y agoThat sucks. In my case I got a low 5 figure buy out offer which I figured I better take to not find what’s the next step. It was a useless blog which was using a part of a large entertainment company’s name