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Smash Lab Sucks: An Open Letter to the Discovery Channel

5 points by karjaluoto 18y ago

karjaluoto 18y ago
Hi all, Just thought I'd take a moment to explain why I posted this here. When we started our firm in 2000, there were no other groups in the world named "smashLAB". A few years later a band called their rehearsal hall “smashlabs” and someone else did something with it, but we weren’t particularly concerned. When the Discovery Channel poached it though, we were a little choked. These guys seemed big enough to perform due diligence and come up with something original. That being said, we're small--what were we to do? Month after month we watched as more people commented about what a horrible show the Discovery Channel had churned out. As a result, a Google search for smashLAB didn't just turn up results on the television program; it also brought with it numerous blogs and posts about how badly "Smash Lab sucks". This morning we pondered changing our name; but instead, decided to have some fun. Visit the site and see what we did to amuse ourselves. :-) Eric
noonespecial 18y ago
Always trademark something you .com. Always. Its like $250. If you're going to call your company that. Trademark it. These guys seemed big enough to perform due diligence and come up with something original. They probably did a tess search here and found the name unused. Due Diligence. http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=7ro35j.1.1 http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=7ro35j....
- karjaluoto 18y ago
  Agreed--we should have done that. At the time we purchased the Canadian trademark, which, once done totaled up to around $2,000. The agent at the time told us that the process for us to get an American one would cost about the same. We decided that we couldn't afford it then. My feeling is that we could likely go after them as the program is aired in Canada as well. That being said, their lawyers are probably more numerous and well paid than ours. As such, I suspect we'd spend plenty and gain little. So instead, we're being a buzzing little fly, spinning about their heads. (Likely not much more than an annoyance, but having some fun nevertheless.) And isn't fun supposed to be part of it? ;-)
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
sam_in_nyc 18y ago
Nice way to grab SEO focus off of the dilemma and play it to your... well... um... not play it to your disadvantage.
- karjaluoto 18y ago
  That's what we were thinking. Sort of a: "The damage is already done--why not have some fun with it?" I'm not sure about exact numbers yet (Analytics reporting typically isn't that accurate until the next day), but it's been visited a great deal today. Sort of nice to have some positive spin out of this. :-)
  - sam_in_nyc 18y ago
    Plus, sometimes it's just good to vent! I think I saw you on an elevator pitch? Was it MakeFive? How much traffic do you get from that?
    - karjaluoto 18y ago
      We did receive some traffic from it, but not quite as much as we were led to believe we might see as a result of TechCrunch featuring us. (That being said, it's certainly nice of them to have covered us!) Truth is,the biggest referrer that we see continues to be StumbleUpon. Those guys send us lots of traffic. We love them and want to bear their children; but, given the physical improbability of that, we'd probably just buy them lots of beer.
      - sam_in_nyc 18y ago
        Very interesting... I always thought that Techcrunch would bring a ton of traffic, but I guess it's moreso their blog than their elevator pitch page. It was a nice pitch, nonetheless. StumbleUpon, eh? Is this just organic traffic or have you done something to instigate it? And keep an open mind about having children with a website... some day it'll be possible.
        18y ago

5 points by karjaluoto 18y ago

Hi all, Just thought I'd take a moment to explain why I posted this here. When we started our firm in 2000, there were no other groups in the world named "smashLAB". A few years later a band called their rehearsal hall “smashlabs” and someone else did something with it, but we weren’t particularly concerned. When the Discovery Channel poached it though, we were a little choked. These guys seemed big enough to perform due diligence and come up with something original. That being said, we're small--what were we to do? Month after month we watched as more people commented about what a horrible show the Discovery Channel had churned out. As a result, a Google search for smashLAB didn't just turn up results on the television program; it also brought with it numerous blogs and posts about how badly "Smash Lab sucks". This morning we pondered changing our name; but instead, decided to have some fun. Visit the site and see what we did to amuse ourselves. :-) Eric

noonespecial 18y ago

Always trademark something you .com. Always. Its like $250. If you're going to call your company that. Trademark it. These guys seemed big enough to perform due diligence and come up with something original. They probably did a tess search here and found the name unused. Due Diligence. http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=7ro35j.1.1 http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=7ro35j....

karjaluoto 18y ago
Agreed--we should have done that. At the time we purchased the Canadian trademark, which, once done totaled up to around $2,000. The agent at the time told us that the process for us to get an American one would cost about the same. We decided that we couldn't afford it then. My feeling is that we could likely go after them as the program is aired in Canada as well. That being said, their lawyers are probably more numerous and well paid than ours. As such, I suspect we'd spend plenty and gain little. So instead, we're being a buzzing little fly, spinning about their heads. (Likely not much more than an annoyance, but having some fun nevertheless.) And isn't fun supposed to be part of it? ;-)

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

sam_in_nyc 18y ago

Nice way to grab SEO focus off of the dilemma and play it to your... well... um... not play it to your disadvantage.

karjaluoto 18y ago
That's what we were thinking. Sort of a: "The damage is already done--why not have some fun with it?" I'm not sure about exact numbers yet (Analytics reporting typically isn't that accurate until the next day), but it's been visited a great deal today. Sort of nice to have some positive spin out of this. :-)
- sam_in_nyc 18y ago
  Plus, sometimes it's just good to vent! I think I saw you on an elevator pitch? Was it MakeFive? How much traffic do you get from that?
  - karjaluoto 18y ago
    We did receive some traffic from it, but not quite as much as we were led to believe we might see as a result of TechCrunch featuring us. (That being said, it's certainly nice of them to have covered us!) Truth is,the biggest referrer that we see continues to be StumbleUpon. Those guys send us lots of traffic. We love them and want to bear their children; but, given the physical improbability of that, we'd probably just buy them lots of beer.
    - sam_in_nyc 18y ago
      Very interesting... I always thought that Techcrunch would bring a ton of traffic, but I guess it's moreso their blog than their elevator pitch page. It was a nice pitch, nonetheless. StumbleUpon, eh? Is this just organic traffic or have you done something to instigate it? And keep an open mind about having children with a website... some day it'll be possible.
      - 18y ago