BrandBucket.org

[rubencouto]

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

 

[rubencouto]

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!!!

Thanks for the feedback!
Ruben

 

[Nappy Bunch]

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..

 

[Acroplex]

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.

 

[HKIBC]

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

↑ This!
Only reason this makes any sense, IMO.

 

[jberryhill]

John could you go into it a little "having a trademark" vs "having a trademark registration"

I've done this a bunch of times here on NP, but I'm going to ask you three questions just to warm up the brain cells before diving into trademarks.

Let's say you live in a city which has the following law:

"If you want the privilege of walking your dog in the park, then you must have a dog license. In order to obtain a dog license, you must pay a fee of $5 to the town clerk. Dog licenses will need to be renewed every year."

Okay, so, here's the first question:

1. I go to the town clerk, pay the $5, and get the license. Does that mean I have a dog? (yes/no)

Here's the second question:

2. I buy a dog, go to the town clerk, pay $5 and get the license. A year goes by, and the license expires. Does that mean I no longer have a dog? (yes/no)

Here's the third question:

3. I buy a dog, pay the $5, and get the license. Six months later my dog dies, but the license is still valid. Does that mean I still have a dog? (yes/no)

Now, there are some important differences among various countries as to "what does a trademark registration mean?" in terms of what, specifically, it signifies, what rights it confers, and so on. But I get really tired of writing up the difference between "having a dog" and "having a dog license" every couple of months or so here on Namepros, so maybe some helpful person will dig up the link to the last time I went through this. But the bottom line is that it is possible to have a dog, and no dog license; to have a dog license and no dog; or to have both a dog and a dog license.

But, especially in the US, whether or not you "have a trademark" and whether or not you "have a trademark registration" are two different questions.

If you can answer the three questions above correctly, then you are all warmed up and ready to understand the difference between "having a trademark" and "having a trademark registration".

 

[Nappy Bunch]

they didnt last long did they lol

 

[JimJammy]

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/...il&utm_term=0_bcb3de19b4-958311d72d-256597105

WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION
Boxador, Inc. v. Ruben Botn-Joergensen

7. Decision
For the foregoing reasons, in accordance with paragraphs 4(i) of the Policy and 15 of the Rules, the Panel orders that the Domain Names, <brandbucket.org> and <brandbucket.shop>, be transferred to the Complainant.

Credit to @TauseefKhan for bringing this to our attention.

 

[Hypersot]

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

 

[Michael Ehrhardt]

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 ...

 

[NPer]

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.

 

[Acroplex]

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.

 

[Acroplex]

Looks like the .org is gone.

 

[jberryhill]

Can you have a dog without a permit to walking him in the park?

Precisely. If you don't want to walk your dog in the park, you don't have any reason to want to register your dog.

In the US, you "get" a trademark by using a distinctive mark on your goods/services. If you want to enforce that mark, you will have to prove in court that you've been using it, it is valid and distinctive, that you own it, that it is enforceable in the jurisdiction where you are suing, and a few other things. The burden will be on you to prove those things in order to enforce your mark.

If you have a trademark, and you then REGISTER your trademark, then you (a) automatically have the right to sue on that mark in federal court instead of state court, (b) you walk in with the presumption that it is valid and distinctive, and that you own it, (c) your right to enforce automatically extends to the entire US and is not geographically limited to your trading area, and a raft of other enhanced rights. In other words, registration shifts the burden of proof on those things to the alleged infringer. Instead of having to prove you DO have a valid trademark in the case of an unregistered mark, your registration says you have one, and the other guy has to prove you DON'T.

But registration of your mark in the US does not "get you a trademark". It confers certain enhanced procedural and legal rights in the mark you already had.

A similar situation is true with copyrights. If you write a work of orginal authorship, paint a painting, compose and record a song, etc., you HAVE a copyright in your work. Automatically. That will give you the right to stop others from copying. If you want to sue for monetary damages in federal court, you will have to register your copyright. But registration is not what gets you a copyright. Registration merely provides you with certain conveniences and shifts the burden of proof as to whether you own one.

 

[TravisS]

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.

 

[rubencouto]

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:

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? Still, for the skeptics: http://www.whois.com/whois/brandbucket.org

 

[rubencouto]

[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!

 

[Jasper schilperoord]

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...

 

[disaac81]

.....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.

 

[nomen]

What an incredibly stupid idea. Anyway, shame on Brandbucket for not owning their name in all the common TLDs.

 

[Cdomains]

Somethings off!

 

[Chris Hydrick]

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:

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

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)

Other extensions regged: .co, .co.uk, .org, .info, .ru, .lk, .net, .cn, .biz, .website, .site, .in, .co.za, .co.in, .de

 

[Jasper schilperoord]

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.

 

[Fuadiansyah]

↑ This!
Only reason this makes any sense, IMO.

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

Confirmed!

 

[creataweb]

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

Confirmed!

I noticed that too, then LOL'ed.