4 ms·

If Discord was allowing this website to run for so long using this brand, don't they risk losing the trademark because of the dilution due to non-enforcement ?

by rvnx 3y ago

eastbound 3y ago
Just to confirm, they have a trademark: https://trademarks.justia.com/866/35/discord-86635386.html https://trademarks.justia.com/866/35/discord-86635386.html They don’t seem to mention it on their website. I don’t see any guideline for how to respect their trademark: https://discord.com/branding https://discord.com/branding Now the question, does it risk dilution if a company doesn’t say what’s allowed.
- NolF 3y ago
  Yes. Trademark law says the use of a trademark as a trademark is an issue. Using the discord logo to link to a discord channel is fine. Allowing a site to be named Discord with a different TLD is using a trademark as a trademark and that can have consequences. The whole point of trademark is to distinguish goods/services and by failing to prevent the use of discord.io they kinda dropping the ball here in my opinion.
  - hunter2_ 3y ago
    Does the fact that .io is a ccTLD (despite not actually being used primarily for internal BIOT purposes) offer any counterpoint to that argument?
    - dagmx 3y ago
      No, it’s still trademark infringement. Especially since it relates to the same product. It would be different if they were unrelated but this is about as bad as infringement and brand confusion can get. Any competent legal OR marketing team would have sent them a C&D ages ago.
      - inetknght 3y ago
        > Any competent legal OR marketing team would have sent them a C&D ages ago. Interesting. That about sums up my opinion of their development team.
  - account42 3y ago
    Using discord as a TLD would not be automatic trademark infringement. You can't just get an all-encompassing trademark for english words.
stevehawk 3y ago
Correct. if you don't defend your trademark then you risk losing it.
- lathiat 3y ago
  This is generally not nearly as true as people think. At least according to the EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/trademark-law-does-not-require-companies-tirelessly-censor-internet https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/trademark-law-does-not... > The circumstances under which a company could actually lose a trademark—such as abandonment and genericide—are quite limited. Genericide occurs when a trademark becomes the standard term for a type of good (‘zipper’ and ‘escalator’ being two famous examples). This is very rare and would not be a problem for Canonical unless people start saying “Ubuntu” simply to mean “operating system.” Courts also set a very high bar to show abandonment (usually years of total non-use). Importantly, failure to enforce a mark against every potential infringer does not show abandonment.
- nazka 3y ago
  Why what? Is it real? So is it why Apple and other attack everybody then?

If Discord was allowing this website to run for so long using this brand, don't they risk losing the trademark because of the dilution due to non-enforcement ?

by rvnx 3y ago

If Discord was allowing this website to run for so long using this brand, don't they risk losing the trademark because of the dilution due to non-enforcement ?

eastbound 3y ago

Just to confirm, they have a trademark: https://trademarks.justia.com/866/35/discord-86635386.html https://trademarks.justia.com/866/35/discord-86635386.html They don’t seem to mention it on their website. I don’t see any guideline for how to respect their trademark: https://discord.com/branding https://discord.com/branding Now the question, does it risk dilution if a company doesn’t say what’s allowed.

NolF 3y ago
Yes. Trademark law says the use of a trademark as a trademark is an issue. Using the discord logo to link to a discord channel is fine. Allowing a site to be named Discord with a different TLD is using a trademark as a trademark and that can have consequences. The whole point of trademark is to distinguish goods/services and by failing to prevent the use of discord.io they kinda dropping the ball here in my opinion.
- hunter2_ 3y ago
  Does the fact that .io is a ccTLD (despite not actually being used primarily for internal BIOT purposes) offer any counterpoint to that argument?
  - dagmx 3y ago
    No, it’s still trademark infringement. Especially since it relates to the same product. It would be different if they were unrelated but this is about as bad as infringement and brand confusion can get. Any competent legal OR marketing team would have sent them a C&D ages ago.
    - inetknght 3y ago
      > Any competent legal OR marketing team would have sent them a C&D ages ago. Interesting. That about sums up my opinion of their development team.
- account42 3y ago
  Using discord as a TLD would not be automatic trademark infringement. You can't just get an all-encompassing trademark for english words.

stevehawk 3y ago

Correct. if you don't defend your trademark then you risk losing it.

lathiat 3y ago
This is generally not nearly as true as people think. At least according to the EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/trademark-law-does-not-require-companies-tirelessly-censor-internet https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/trademark-law-does-not... > The circumstances under which a company could actually lose a trademark—such as abandonment and genericide—are quite limited. Genericide occurs when a trademark becomes the standard term for a type of good (‘zipper’ and ‘escalator’ being two famous examples). This is very rare and would not be a problem for Canonical unless people start saying “Ubuntu” simply to mean “operating system.” Courts also set a very high bar to show abandonment (usually years of total non-use). Importantly, failure to enforce a mark against every potential infringer does not show abandonment.
nazka 3y ago
Why what? Is it real? So is it why Apple and other attack everybody then?