50,....... :arcadefre

that's the vibe I gotfrom reading the email too. I couldn't see where he laid claim to the domain, other than making a seriously low offer on it.

what a delusional moron. i hate people who think they own anything with their name in it online.

You really really really really should talk to a lawyer. So far, the advice given could get you sued and arrested.

Hmmm..... that's actually a good point. If you think about it, if he had the trademark for it and wanted the domain, he wouldn't offer money, he'd demand that the domain be handed over otherwise there'd be legal action.

AJ - dont reply to him and DONT offer to sell the domain - you will lower your standing with the UDRP process if you do - but like the other advice - if you ever really get a legal C & D - hand it over to a good domain lawyer - and I am pretty sure that the lawyer will reply to them to follow the UDRP proceedings if they really want the domain - which based on decisions Ive read they wont come close to getting it anyway.

just talk to a lawyer.

This is true. Don't respond to the e-mail. They don't really have any ground to stand on. You see this a lot with companies who try to scare people into giving up their domains.

Again, I suggest that you don't listen to anyone on this board and consult an attorney. They have plenty of ground to stand on.

By nature of trademark law, they own the trademark, they own the right to the domain. If you want to challenge the trademark, get a lawyer and do so. If not, the domain is rightfully theirs.

Second, by offering to sell them the domain at a price higher than the cost of registering the domain, you may be guilty of cybersquatting.

Really, give them the domain, or consult an attorney.

I remember Vic from the LA Webmaster Access last year - he was speaking at the content seminar while chewing his gum like a cow and making about the same intellectual impression...

Arrested? :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

WRONG!!!

Yes, it is called cybersquatting, look it up.

OK, go ahead and register anythinggonewild.com and see what happens.

Where is the demand? Seems like it's only an offer.

JMM, thanks.
I will take your advice and disregard the info here - yours included.

Overture Keyword Selector Tool Results:

Searches done in May 2006
Count Search Term
330 kick ass picture

Searches done in May 2006
Count Search Term
1485 kick ass gallery

This is not just a domain name, it's a TGP I've been working on for 2+ years that accounts for 1/4 of my annual income.

Oh..its not just a domain name its a TGP??? LOL Well, they have no rights to the TGP, just the domain name. Nothing may happen of it, but if they do decide to take issue with it, you will lose and it will be an expensive lesson.

Right, I have interpreted the offer as this:

Since we have this new trademark, we're taking your domain, traffic, everything you have worked hard to build.

But, we will offer you $450 for your trouble.

LOL, its not a new trademark. They filed the trademark application almost a year before you registered your domain name.

Anyway, good luck to you.

So I have finally hit the big-time in becoming involved in my very first GFY Drama thread.

Regarding AJ: NoWhErE's and Georgeyw's posts express the point of view I should have tried harder to make sure that AJ would have had when he read my email. It's actually the opposite of a legal threat. Yes we offered AJ a low sum. Duh. Negotiate.

Regarding Mike South: :)

Regarding DrinkingHARDEST / Mark Hurson: Although Mark is to be commended for continuing the drama factor by reposting another email, he actually neglected to post my reply to his original offer (which in all fairness he may have never received, what with junk filters and the like). Anyway in the email that Mark did NOT post I asked how much he wanted for the domain. Mark never replied so, after I got the word from my boss (Mark Kulkis) that our company (Kick Ass Pictures, Inc.) would pursue adult sites using "kick ass" in their domain name, I sent Mark DrinkingHARDEST another letter although asking him to reply ASAP with the amount that he is interested in.

Regarding all the mudslinging: Nice work! I am such an asshole. And fuck I have a horrible habit of chewing like a cow and making bad impressions on people who already know so much more than I do. Fuck me, I'm such an ass-backwards retard that I always forget to front like I know everything under the son and I even publicly ask my peers and co-workers for their advice on things that - if I was even half a real man - I would pretend that I already know everything about.

jahLuv iTernally,
Kick Ass Vic

sounds shitty of them

Besides do a shitload of legal research before you buy a domain name, what is the lesson?

It actually would have taken you less than 10 seconds.

Vic,
There was no mention of the word buy, purchase, acquire, etc. If I misinterpreted the email I will be the first to apologize.

If your post is the honest truth, you have the worst acquisition email format known to man and have succeeded in freaking me out quite badly.

Agreed, but I think it's safe to say that most people who are new at something and are all pumped up, excited, ready to start a new hobby or project don't cover all the bases because they simply don't have the knowledge and experience to know what they should do.

Sure, if I knew what you know it would have taken 10 seconds.

It only would have taken JFK 10 seconds to put a helmet on before the parade ;)

It's easy to see the obvious . . . after the fact. Taking the 10 seconds is assuming I knew what to do and you still didn't answer my question.

In your eyes, what is the lesson?

AJ - check your ICQ

AJ - check your ICQ

No it's not. Cybersquatting is registering a domain with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. It is only cybersquatting if he registered it with bad faith intentions in an effort to sell it to someone.

#3 comment is absolutely shit. I wonder what you think 'Apple' is therefore described as.

I have just registered a series of Tradenames and Trademarks for a client internationally. Ridiculous as it might sound, the tradename we couldn't register as a company as it was too similar to an existing company, but we could register the tradename and trademark.

Rule of thumb is that you can only register a name within a category...i.e. Apple only relates to computers, etc. As it is a generic name, they don't own it across the board, so, you can possibly go out and register 'Apple' for use as a motor vehicle (as ridiculous as it might sound) i.e. Apple sports cars.

Trademarks are King. If you have a problem, you can appeal his tradename registeration because of your long association, but be warned, work out the value of your name before you start, because unless it is worth $20,000 + it isn't worth the fight unless you have deep pockets and let ego get in the way of commonsense.

Lyn

Yeh, saw Tom (Poofy) Cruise on television last night. He was chewing gum while being interviewed like there was going to be a shortage of the shit. How anyone likes this little creep is beyond me.

Lyn

Where can one go to check if a name is trademarked already?

the site is www.uspto.gov

I read some while ago in russia there is an icecream called Windows wich makes sense when I read your post ;)))

Funny thread sofar though

Your boss must be a dumb ass. You can not trade mark "kick ass" it is to generic and is used in every day language. You trademarked "kick ass pictures". That does not give you the right to any url that has "kick ass" in it. I hope all the sites you try and bully take you and your boss to court and sue your ass for harrassment.

Funny you mention both computers and cars as example categories... :)

http://www.nissan.com/
http://www.nissan.com/Digest/The_Story.php

"recently completed trademarking":1orglaugh

interesting to see this play out

Vic, I never received your reply. All I received was an e-mail threatning to send legal after me for infringing on your supposed trademark.

I don't appreciate your attempt to bully me into giving you the domain, I am not some webmaster living in his parent's basement. I went thru a domain dispute 4 years ago with Mastercard and won, so excuse me if I'm not pissing my pants over this situation LOL!

There are much better ways to protect your company's brand and at the same time generate traffic to your sites then threatening legal action at every turn.

DH

I've actually been through a complex trademark dispute issue with a company I used to work for. I'm no attorney, but I do know a fair amount about it from working with the attorneys who handled the litigation.

People succeed in getting a trademark registered, and I think about 90% of them have NO IDEA what it actually means. I've been amazed at the bullying that people do when they think they have a trademark claim. A huge percentage of the time, they're completely full of shit.

First, only the registered mark itself, and no derivatives thereof are afforded protection. So "Kick Ass Pictures" is protected by the issuance of the trademark registration, but "Kick Ass" or "Kick Ass Galleries" would not be. Even the most senile judge would be able to discern that there isn't a reasonable confusion between the two.

Secondly, the mark registration ONLY APPLIES TO THE CATEGORY IN WHICH IT IS ISSUED. So, in this case, the applicable portion of the "kick ass pictures" trademark registration reads

"entertainment in the nature of prerecorded adult-oriented programming distributed by audio and video media and a global computer network"

So they have the right to the name "KICK ASS PICTURES" with respect ONLY to prerecorded adult-oriented programming (i.e., audio and video) and when distributed as physical product (DVDs, CDs), on the Web, or on cable TV.

So... if you run a TGP site that offers mostly stills, does not use the words "kick ass pictures" anywhere on it, they have no claim because (a) you're not using the registered mark (all 3 words) and (b) you're not in the same class of registration (videos distributed on the web.)

This would be like Delta Airlines suing Delta Power Tools over the name "delta.com". Both have trademarks on their respective names in their respective categories, but neither has an overriding right to the name "delta.com".

Same deal with you.

I would find a good intellectual property/patent-trademark attorney (I know a couple if you need contacts) and have him ready, but otherwise, I'd just sit and tell them to piss off.

It sounds more and more like reverse domain name hijacking. It's a common practice used by bigger companies to take away domains from the smaller guys. Currently there is no law against it (mostly because big companies are the ones who don't want one) but it is considered an abuse of the administrative proceeding and the panel can enter such a finding in the record to warn others about the trademark owner.

A trademark holder does not have the exclusive right to use a word that is merely descriptive, since this decreases the words available to describe. I am amazed that their lawyer would not notify them of this very simple fact in trademark law.

funny that few here have been around long enough to remember cohen and all the domains he got with "sex" in them. few seem to understand that legal and not legal, "right" and "wrong" are ideas which are more determined by who has the deepest pockets and is willing to fight the hardest than anything else. you can still be "right" and be sued into bankrupcy.

"those who come to gfy for legal advice, have already lost the battle"
Sun Tzu - Art of Ignorance

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

hey get me that guy address, pay me the 450 i will pay him a visit and for sure you will keep your domain:thumbsup

send them some anthrax - that'll fix em

It seems the problem go resolved in this thread ...

Big missunderstanding, but yeah the email seemed wrong.

Using thoses tactics in the adult webmastering world would just be wrong and would probably result in massive boycott of the affiliate program... there is so many good products out there already, that anything negative arround one can fuck it up badly.

why offer you 450 cause he's nice or he knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on

trademarks mean nothing unless you have 100k for layers to back it up.

DH - You have my email, why communicate with me over a message board known simply for inflamation of ingrown hairs? Same with AJ in the first place.

I apologize for not being aware of how intense this could be on the receiving end. Prior to sending my email to you and others I did not envision that what I wrote would be interpreted as a legal bullying. I was trying to say that we would should discuss a normal sale and transfer of domain names ASAP because my company was interested in pusruing legal action in cases where that was not an option.

In any case - please do contact me via email or ICQ or phone. I believe you have my contact information.

Rock for light.