My site is being moved

@codemake2012-10-30 12:17:58

Domain name market

@codemake, 2012-10-30 12:17:58

Not so long ago I started my little project snippets.su . The site is not commercial, it was made for people. A few days later, I received a letter claiming the name of my site and the picture on the main page. In the first letter, he says that his site is SNIPPETS.ME, which they plan to launch in the near future and the rights to use "SNIPPETS" belong to them. Our correspondence:

I

Vladimir, hello.
As for the picture, I have no questions. I found it on the Internet and if it is yours, I apologize and I will remove the picture during the day.
Now about the name. My site is called that for a simple reason - it's a domain. The site does not have a separate name. I just capitalized the domain.
Now about rights. I would like to receive full information on the patent for your trademark and to know all the details of its (name) use. I will not change the domain. But I can change the name if it is really an offense or just humanly interferes with someone (and you will justify this).
Thanks for understanding.

Hello, Alexander.
The domain is the name of the site, show at least one example where this is not the case.
I do not have a patent for a trademark, this does not happen. There are patents and there are trademarks. These are different things.

In the first letter I gave a link to all the information on the website of the US Patent Agency. Here I repeat tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74384996&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch
This page contains the most complete information about registration, including all documents that are available for download.

On that page, in the Goods and Services section, it says that the trademark is registered for "computer programs providing a programming code and text management database". Trademark issued for international class products and services under number 009 (description here www.uspto.gov/trademarks/notices/international.jsp ) and US 021, 023, 026, 036, 038 (http://www.uspto.gov /web/patents/classification/selectnumwithtitle.htm).

The Current Owner(s)/Information section contains information about the current owner where you can find my first and last name (for documentary confirmation, the application contains a scan of my identity card, which is used in Europe instead of a passport) as well as the line DBA SNIPPETSAPP.COM which stands for Doing Business As SNIPPETSAPP.COM.

I will not substantiate anything. This is a clear trademark infringement, consult any lawyer. If this is not enough for you, then I can involve a lawyer in the case so that he substantiates you and you him. And this is a very expensive question.

The domain was free. I registered it in the usual way.
What do i do? I don’t want to move, but I don’t know what to answer and how to behave.

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16 answer(s)

Edro, 2012-10-30
@Edro

USA?
I would send it somewhere else.

MaxUp, 2012-10-30
@MaxUp

simple advice - ignore it. He has no legal rights. If anything - your site is SNIPPETS.SU. Exactly like this and nothing else. "SNIPPETS.SU" != "SNIPPETS".

Alexey, 2012-10-30
@Sterhel

Yes, what a dumbass.
If this is not enough for you, then I can involve a lawyer in the case so that he substantiates you and you him. And this is a very expensive question.
Such a standard wiring, calculated on the fact that the people are a priori afraid of the courts and the terrible word "lawyer". Well, yes, it is sometimes expensive. It will be expensive for that dude to have a lawyer (if any) explain the problems (if any) to you. You can also listen for free.
Moreover, “snippet” is a general term.
What do i do? I don’t want to move, but I don’t know what to answer and how to behave.
a) don't move
b) stop feeding the troll.

MikhailEdoshin, 2012-10-30
@MikhailEdoshin

In the registration application, in the Mark Information section , it says

Mark Literal Elements: SNIPPETS
Standard Character Claim: No
Mark Drawing Type: 1 - TYPESET WORD(S) /LETTER(S) /NUMBER(S)

The second line is interesting here. If I understand correctly, it means that the person really has a registered trademark that reads “Snippets”, but not in any (Standard Character Claim: No), but in a certain graphic style. If so, then you are not violating his rights in any way.

Talyutin, 2012-10-30
@Talyutin

I think the best thing to do in this situation is to consult a lawyer. In general, judging by snippets.ru, you can just ignore him.

Vladimir Shishmintsev, 2012-10-30
@Pingvi

If this is not enough for you, then I can involve a lawyer in the case so that he substantiates you and you him. And this is a very expensive question.

You can give the phone number of a lawyer / lawyer you know (of course, after agreeing with him), or even better, the phone number of a psychiatric hospital.
You will see, there will be no calls. As already said - it's just a scarecrow.

TheMengzor, 2012-10-30
@TheMengzor

TM in each country is different, so let him go to hell until he shows the registration of TM in Russia. And then, if he registers TM in Russia after registering your domain, it’s not a fact that the court will force you to transfer the domain to him (because first there was a domain, and then someone’s trader). In this way, I can now register TM HabraHabr and take away the domain from Thematic Media. And generally forbid them to use the word HabraHabr. Absurd? It's absurd, no court would allow that. If the TM in the US was registered before your domain, then they have the right to bend you only in the US law area, but no more.

MikhailEdoshin, 2012-10-30
@MikhailEdoshin

This does not mean that a hypothetical court would automatically decide in your favor - you are not violating federal law, but the court could decide that snippets.me has the usual common-law right to the word itself simply by virtue of the existence of such a service - the public is used to etc. In this case, the court would compare the two sites in detail, taking into account how similar or different they really are, and how typical users of the service are able to distinguish one site from another. But even in this case, you would have a good chance to prove that there is no violation. They are just “going to launch” the site (although it is, in principle, available), so no one is used to anything yet, and your site, on the contrary, is already working, so it is they who are violating customary law. In addition, the target audience (programmers) is unlikely to confuse such sites.

Maximus43, 2012-10-30
@Maximus43

The answer was written by some half-educated schoolboy, both in grammar and in content. Serious people with real lawyers write quite differently. Conclusion: just forget, send all subsequent letters from this address to spam.

edogs, 2012-10-30
@edogs

Their rights/TM are registered in the USA, and you are in Russia (including the domain zone) => go through the woods.
The word is commonly used => go through the forest.
So go through the forest twice.
ps: the only place where you can walk on the edge is if you really used their materials, etc., then with their _great_ desire, they can try to prove your dishonesty ... but this is the google / apple / windows level, not snippet / snippets :)

egorinsk, 2012-10-30
@egorinsk

Let him go through the forest. First, his patent is American. Secondly, even in the USA it is impossible to stake out a common word, which is “snippet”. There was a case, Microsoft could not sue the word Windows, since this is a common word.

Sergey, 2012-10-30
@bondbig

1) Contact a lawyer
2) if the first fails, then I would personally move. There have already been a lot of cases when the court decided to take the domain in favor of the TM owner. In this case, the legal costs will also be borne by the defendant.

BelBES, 2012-10-30
@BelBES

By the way, in Russia, a trademark has priority over a domain name, i.e. if this friend rushes in and registers tm Snippets on the territory of Russia, then he may well take away your domain by a court decision on the basis of articles 1229 and 1484 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Although you may well send it, maybe it will lag behind.

Wedmer, 2012-10-30
@Wedmer

http://www.gos-ur.ru/ to help you.

CrazyOne, 2012-10-31
@CrazyOne

A domain name that simply serves to identify you on the Internet is not an identifier of origin, it's just an address. In the case of TC, the domain name only serves as an address where the site can be found and cannot be considered an identifier of origin.
In short: according to copyright law, if you are not a competitor, you have every right to use this name; since the domain name is descriptive, you have every right to use this domain.

codemake, 2012-10-31
@codemake

What if I register my trademark with that name? Can this be my insurance against such claims?