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rubencouto

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Hello!

A guy in europe is setting up a sort of BrandBucket clone/copy: BrandBucket.org.

It seems that he has filed for "Brand Bucket" trademark: http://www.trademarkia.com/brandbucket-87250042.html

What are your thoughts on this?

Is he infringing any trademark law?
is he violating any copyright laws?
Is he "only" cybersquatting?
Is this illegal?
Could any domain sellers be penalized for publishing their names at BrandBucket.org?

Thanks for any feedback!
Ruben
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
So, that guy's name is Ruben and your alias here is also Ruben
Coincidence?

Without me being a lawyer, I do believe that *guy* will probably have to defend the TM at some point
 
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Hello!

Yes, it is quite a coincidence!!! Believe it or not. Even his "Jørgensen" is simillar to my "Jorge" (second name). However, you can see from his trademark application and not only (https://www.facebook.com/rubenbotn) that he lives in Norway and you can see from all my internet presence that I live in Portugal (https://www.facebook.com/ruben.j.couto). Also, he's not as good looking as I am!!! :xf.smile:

Thanks for the feedback!
Ruben
 
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Hello!

A guy in europe is setting up a sort of BrandBucket clone/copy: BrandBucket.org.

It seems that he has filed for "Brand Bucket" trademark: http://www.trademarkia.com/brandbucket-87250042.html

What are your thoughts on this?

Is he infringing any trademark law?
is he violating any copyright laws?
Is he "only" cybersquatting?
Is this illegal?
Could any domain sellers be penalized for publishing their names at BrandBucket.org?

Thanks for any feedback!
Ruben

No why ?

it is legit

he might got a TM as well

there are more than 400 TM on apple and these are not only apple computer
there are more than 800 TM on Coffee

a TM means nothing
a TM is just wrong

is it word mark ?
is it a word fugarative mark ?
is it an international or local TM ?

there are more than 45 nice class

you can get a TM for computer or perfume
this doesn,t mean you won the world , you own the domain

see : nissan.com

even tesla.com was sold to tesla after 10 years fighting of stupid TM.s

i dont like TM
first come first serve

and these are generic terms ...
 
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Not exactly adding up. Let's just assume for a moment you're not the guy and/or involved, he's not only going to face legal issues, but would likely be ostracized from the domain investor community. Someone is lacking in originality.
 
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Hello!

I thought about asking you guys for feedback, after adding a few domains to the website (as a test drive).
However, after doing that I started browsing a bit more on their site and found out that most text parts (if not all) are simply copy-paste from BB (and this is surely a copyright violation)! And they didn't even bother to READ it!!! As an example, this is what was on their "terms" page, regarding the logo payment:

15416189_804419759698658_1611596986_n.png


So, the buyer would pay for the logo (just like in BrandBucket). After I received an invoice from them asking me to pay $200 for five logos, I contacted them and they said the page needed to be "updated". Now it reads:

"How much will the logo designer take?

You decide how much to give the logo designer anywhere between 40$ or 50$ to 350$.
Seller of the domain will pay this through invoice (paypal, credit card)
"

So, legal or illegal, be aware that things may not be exactly as it shows on their "terms" page!! Proceed with caution!

Thanks for the feedback!
Ruben Couto

PS: If I was that guy, why would I try to make it look like it's someone else and keep the same first name and similar second name? :laugh: Still, for the skeptics: http://www.whois.com/whois/brandbucket.org
 
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Whoever it is, it seems like a fruitless exercise, a waste of time, along with the potential of legal issues popping up.

If it is a clone, it's obviously infringement- whoever it may be, should be careful. IMO

It's not like brandbucket is a wellknown website outside of domain forums/blogs so I find it weird that someone would go ahead and use that name... what are the benefits exactly? And then again, simply because they are a small site, it doesn't mean they wouldn't take any legal action against someone like this.
 
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[QUOTE="NPer, post: 5882709, member: 173844"
It's not like brandbucket is a wellknown website outside of domain forums/blogs so I find it weird that someone would go ahead and use that name... [/QUOTE]

The issue is not only that the owner of BrandBucket.org has an equal name to BrandBucket, but that he is cloning the entire business model (with a few minor changes, like logo fees)! So, not only the name is the same, but the Business is the same!
 
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If the company was serious it would want to establish themselves as a brand on their own, if they grow in the nordic region all they will do is send search engine traffic to BrandBucket.com

Being unique is the whole point of a brandable domain name.. All the website is encouraging is ''if you like a brand name already out their then register the .org'' which all of their listed brand names are available to register in..
 
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Early this morning, as soon as I saw this website I contacted BrandBucket:

upload_2016-12-12_14-47-13.png


@michaeljkrell is welcome to contribute to this discussion.
 
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As long as the owner of Brandbucket itself does not have a trademark for Brandbucket, Brandbucket.org obviously cannot legally infringe on any trademark.
A (very) quick seach just turned up a cancelled wordmark registration for Brandbucket. So, if indeed this turns out to be the case, there would not be any trademark issues here.

Copying text constitues copyright infringement quite easily though. Rendering exploitation of the website illegal anyway.

Potatos, potatoes...
 
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.....there is none listing fee

LOL. Guess they mean no listing fee. Typical copycats, can't even copy, let alone make up their own brand.
 
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What an incredibly stupid idea. Anyway, shame on Brandbucket for not owning their name in all the common TLDs.
 
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would they accept our domains? how much they charge upfront?
 
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They are using Marketify wordpress theme. HERE Their blog is also template wikipedia sourced content from Marketify Their checkout doesn't work.

Their landing page:

upload_2016-12-12_13-53-50.png


In the event they haven't found NamePros yet, they're advertising on the Facebook 'Domain Names Marketplace' group with over 3,000 members. HERE

upload_2016-12-12_13-47-46.png


Perhaps he got upset about his domains being rejected, and created the .org out of spite?

BrandBucket.org regged 11/25/2016
BrandBucket.me regged 12/01/2016


BrandBucket is registered in many different extensions, not all being copy cat marketplaces. The oldest being the co.uk (2010) which belongs to a Barnaby W. of TheBrandBucketCompany.com (2008)

the-brand-bucket_2011-10-25_06-44-50.jpg


Other extensions regged: .co, .co.uk, .org, .info, .ru, .lk, .net, .cn, .biz, .website, .site, .in, .co.za, .co.in, .de
 
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The Brandbucket trademark by the .com owners was cancelled at the USPTO because they did not file a "Declaration of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse".

That form is to be filed between the 5th & 6th year after registration, so that would be in 2014-2015. They appear to have not done so.

Cancellation of the mark does not waive their common law mark rights, however, just the registration status, but they'd better contact an IP attorney asap.
 
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The Brandbucket trademark by the .com owners was cancelled at the USPTO because they did not file a "Declaration of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse".

That form is to be filed between the 5th & 6th year after registration, so that would be in 2014-2015. They appear to have not done so.

Cancellation of the mark does not waive their common law mark rights, however, just the registration status, but they'd better contact an IP attorney asap.
Ah yes, thanks for clearing that up.
 
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Nevermind, misread one of the posts.
 
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The new application is listed as "1B - Intend to use" which means they have 6 months to demonstrate use of the mark in commerce.

As it costs money to apply for a trademark, I don't think they are looking to leech on traffic. They registered the .US and .NO as well.
 
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Perhaps he got upset about his domains being rejected, and created the .org out of spite?
↑ This!
Only reason this makes any sense, IMO.
 
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↑ This!
Only reason this makes any sense, IMO.

"We sell everything, not only REJECTION
With US your domains will get sold!"​

Confirmed!
 
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they didnt last long did they lol
 
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