Re: [school-discuss] Name change and Name Ideas needed

[Matt Jezorek <matt@bluelinux.org>]

I can get a trademark yes, It will cost me 325 bucks. I cant afford this. 
I have funded this whole project out of my personal bank account so far. 
Now I have linuxfund giving me a little but not enough to be able to take 
a large chunk on a trademark. Also If I file a trademark now it will do no 
good on the domain name but will protect the product name. Reason it will 
not protect bluelinux.com is because it was registered prior to the 
trademark. Now according to ACPA and the ICANN site i can do it for 
intellectual property. But a dispute with ICANN related groups is at the 
very least 1500 bucks. Also after the dispute with ICANN they can drag it 
into a courthouse. Now we are talking money I dont have.

Its a big mess and there dont seem to be laws to protect the small groups. 
We are a registered non-profit group working on 501(c)3 status but we dont 
have the money for trademarks and all the stuff the big companies can do 
so in this matter it seems like we just get screwed. 


 On 19 Apr 2002, 
michael Parker wrote:

> 
> 
> On Fri, 2002-04-19 at 06:02, William Abernathy wrote:
> > Matt Jezorek wrote:
> >
> > >    I also can not afford to protect the name. Back when I first
> started to
> > > Blue Linux i tried to register bluelinux.org, bluelinux.com, and
> 
> > > bluelinux.net. However I was only able to get .org. I have tried
> almost
> > > daily to grab the other domains as they expire. I lost at this
> battle.
> > > BlueLinux.com was snatched up in January by a company called CPi
> Sites
> > > they own http://www.urlcollector.com/. I tried to make an offer
> to buy the
> > > domain at what I feel is a fair price. I was denied and told
> that I had to
> > > purchase it for $650 dollars US. I can not afford this. In the
> process
> > > they told me they where going to complete the sale to a company
> in Tokyo
> > > for $500.00 US. I can not compete I dont have the budget. Now it
> apears
> > > that if I owned a trademark on Blue Linux I could then chase
> down and get
> > > the domain of course they said the only way I could get it with
> a
> > > trademark from them is for them to charge me a "Surrender Fee"
> of 562.00
> > > US. Here is where I can not protect the name. Why would a
> company in Tokyo
> > > buy "bluelinux.com" unless they where intending on providing
> > > software/services or a product under the Blue Linux name.
> >
> >
> > Perhaps you should talk directly to the people in Japan before
> leaping to any
> > conclusions. Domain name traders are scum. If they told me my
> pants were on
> > fire, I'd wait for a second opinion. For all you know, they
> fabricated the
> > Japanese angle from whole cloth. And the Japanese, if they do
> exist, may be
> > willing to share, or take a .biz domain.
> >
> > While I could
> > > stop a trademark with the prior art clause. I can not stop them
> from using
> > > the domain name to release a product either competing with me or
> against
> > > me or however you want to say it. I dont mind competition but I
> dont want
> > > competition because of a .org or .com typo. So we feel it would
> probably
> > > be best to change names.
> >
> >
> > Don't get so worked up. Unless and until you've confirmed the
> Japanese angle,
> > you don't even know whether or not there will be any confusion
> over your domain
> > name. These squatters may well be playing games. Don't fold before
> you have a
> > chance to see them blink.
> 
> quite. afaik, if you own a company that trades under a certain name,
> and
> someone else attempts to take your domain name (whether or not they
> intend to sell similar or dissimilar products) you can have the
> domainname re-appropriated as they are effectively attempting to use
> 
> your trademark. Is BLue Linux a limited company or US equivalent? Im
> 
> sure thats the status under UK law; and the ACPA act you mention on
> the
> site seems to fulfill the same role. Maybe its worth seeing if you
> can
> acquire a trademark - normally a bureaucratic rather than expenive
> action. then they would have to cede the domain on a legal basis.
> 
> this is kinda coming off the top of my head, but i had a look into
> this
> for a friend and i think the law is there. I mean, i tried to get
> muppet.org, and its reserved - look at the whois - even though
> theres no
> site or anything.
> 
> worth looking into. either way i'll rack my brain for new names
> anyway..:-)) good luck!      mike
> >
> 
> >
> > --William
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> --
> Michael Parker  -----   AstariX Alternative Solutions
> 
> www.astarix.co.uk
> _______________________________________________________________
> 
> Linux and open source solutions -- servers - desktop - security
> _______________________________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
> 

-- 
Matt Jezorek 
Executive Director / Founder 
Blue Linux Group, Inc 
http://www.bluelinux.org 
matt@bluelinux.org 

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