I recently Registered "Rapid Refund Taxes".com~Quite Generic I believe.

[DnPresident]

We recently Registered "Rapid Refund Taxes".com~Quite Generic?

Well we just got an email from a tax firm stating that they own a similar trademark and I'm cybersquatting them and to turn the name over immediately.

Here's what we believe and sent back via email.....

Rapid refund is an Generic term for filing taxes. It is the same as you saying you have a trademark on Fast Refunds, Quick Refunds or Speedy Refunds..You can not or even attempt to control or monopolize a generic term such as rapid, fast or speedy followed by any generic term such as cars, taxes, delivery, cleaning..

You may get a trademark on the word "Rapid" or any other generic name but this does not mean you can run a monopoly on the internet and threaten everyone using a generic word such as Rapid, Fast or Speedy folowed by another generic term such as Refund, Refunds, Refunded, tax, taxed, taxes,

You may however trademark and actually control a brand name such as YourCompanyREFUND YourCompanyRefunds and so on..

We do not and will never CyberSquat as you suggest and take all and every such threat, charge and or accusation very seriously. We do not and will never transfer ownership of our domain names without an agreed upon sale price between "us the owner" and an interested purchaser.

Dave Crutcher

 

[sunken]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you look up Rapid Refund in the trademark database, it is owned by H&R Block and is not just a generic term.

Trademarks can be any generic term, but it has a specific scope. For instance, Apple can trademark their name for use in computers, but not other industries. As a matter of fact, the Beatles sued Apple for use of the name as part of the iTunes deal, since it dealt with music which was specific to their trademark (Apple records).

 

[comicbookguy]

Rapid Refund is TM by HR Block and it belongs to them. But if this is a small tax firm and not HR Block sending this then they are blowing smoke in my opinion. But if it is HR Block then this name is nothing but trouble.

 

[jberryhill]

"Rapid Refund" is a quite well known service offered by H&R Block. What this service amounts to is essentially a loan against your prospective tax refund, and they make more money off of this sucker than they do in preparing tax returns.

It is not "generic" since, as you demonstrate, other phrases could suffice to describe a prompt tax refund.

It's really not descriptive either, since they do not really purport to obtain your tax refund any more rapidly than the government will process your return - it is really a loan service which, while rapid, is not really a refund. In that sense, it might be considered deceptively misdescriptive, but their federal registration is prima facie evidence of the ownership and distinctiveness of the mark.

 

[DnPresident]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you look up Rapid Refund in the trademark database, it is owned by H&R Block and is not just a generic term.

Trademarks can be any generic term, but it has a specific scope. For instance, Apple can trademark their name for use in computers, but not other industries. As a matter of fact, the Beatles sued Apple for use of the name as part of the iTunes deal, since it dealt with music which was specific to their trademark (Apple records).

That's fine, they can trademark anything they want...I'm standing firm that it is just as generic as Fast Refunds, speedy refunds or secure refunds which may be trademarks just as well..

If I make most of my money from rapid submissions, rapid articles, rapid returns, rapid recipes or anything else that is important to have done in a rapid fashion~I can't trademark any of those and expect for no one else to advertise it again..

If your expecting a refund, Most people want their tax refund back in a rapid fashion, not slowly or mid-paced. Almost every tax service is offering rapid tax returns these days..I call trademarking a commonly used term and trying to control it on the internet a monopoly.

I respect everyones opinion but am a little surprised you back them on this one just because they bought the trademark

He told me the trademark was Rapid Refund any way, not rapid refund taxes and even if it were to me it's still generic since rapid just means fast.

I have DetoxRapidly, BlogRapidly, ProfitRapidly, RapidFTP and RapidInsuranceAgency all in .com as well.....Guess what! I could care less if their trademarks because they are commonly used generic terms.

What's next a trademark on purple grapes?

Just took a look at every RapidTaxRefund .com .net .org .us and none appear to be H&RBlock......Probably a hoax then..

 

[flamewalker]

They have very specific rules and every now and then a bad tm DOES show up...however this is their service/trade mark, and you just might be SOL if they UDRP or sue...

Just fyi, next time you should get advice before you send a reply... anything you say can and will be used against you

 

[Prof. Goldbloom]

I don't know if anyone's really "backing" them...but people are trying to say that this domain name is nothing but trouble. I say, "As long as you can afford to defend it in court or UDRP, go for it. Just be prepared to do that though, because you probably will HAVE to."

:hehe:

 

[sunken]

No one is backing anyone in this. We are just trying to give you a head's up about registering trademarks, so you'll avoid a lot of legal hassles in the future. We certainly don't want to see any domainer get sued or lose domains. If you want to argue that in front of a court, and have the resources to do so, then all the power to you. It's just that precedent has not been on your side.

 

[DnPresident]

Thanks for everyones advice....It's amazing to me that a term with RapidRefund in it is considered trouble because someone trademarked it.

I've always thought Rapid refund was just something you did when you wanted your taxes back quicker than the standard processing period,Not a special trademarked variation of illegal to use words.

I wasn't aware there was another term besides the obvious ones similar to the couple I've mentioned which are fast and speedy. If Rapid refund is protected then it could be argued that no one can use fast or speedy refund together because it would be confused with rapid refund :lol:

I'll let you know what happens....and yes I'll travel to where ever needed to argue my point.

 

[Broker]

Not sure if it makes a difference but they dont have the 3 words you registered TM'd then how can they bitch? Because the first 2 words are in there?

These big companies anymore have just about every word and phrase you can think of TM'd. Before you know it we wont be able to register anything.

 

[Ronald Regging]

When dealing with the government, nothing is ever rapid.

As jberryhill pointed out, the service they are offering is actually a loan service, so in that regard, the term is not generic. No one would ever hear the term "Rapid Refund" and instinctively think of loans... Well, aside from the refund loan that H&R Block offers under the same term... You see how that works? They've established a solid brand for a service, using a term that is not generic for that particular service.

And since the government doesn't offer any sort of expedited tax processing service (that I'm aware of), the only context where someone could offer a rapid, fast, or speedy refund, would be if they were offering refund loans...

Though, honestly, there are other domains I think they'd be more apt to go after, such as RapidRefund.net, which is a competing service...

Either way, I personally don't think the domain is worth the hassle, but if you want to fight it, best of luck!

 

[DnPresident]

No one would ever hear the term "Rapid Refund" and instinctively think of loans...

And since the government doesn't offer any sort of expedited tax processing service (that I'm aware of), the only context where someone could offer a rapid, fast, or speedy refund, would be if they were offering refund loans...

1. Your right, I don't think of loans. I think of getting my refund back rapidly

2. It's not about the government offering refunds rapidly. It's about the the hundreds or thoundsands of online and off line services offering the service without the help of HRBLOCK

Did any of you that posted here honestly know that HRBLOCK had the term rapid refund trademarked? I'm no spring chicken and had no idea..It's ridiculous to me, but what do I know?

Either way, I personally don't think the domain is worth the hassle, but if you want to fight it, best of luck!

It is worth it to me.

 

[whitebark]

First thing I think of when I hear 'rapid refund' is H&R's tax service. You hear it ad nauseum every tax season.

 

[Ronald Regging]

Did any of you that posted here honestly know that HRBLOCK had the term rapid refund trademarked? I'm no spring chicken and had no idea..It's ridiculous to me, but what do I know?

I've seen a few H&R Blocks.. They all have giant Rapid Refund signs in the window. They have commercials touting their Rapid Refund service... Conversely, I don't think I've ever seen or heard another tax refund business using the term in their advertising in the course of my day-to-day life. Though, admittedly, I don't use these services.

But generally speaking, when I hear a term being advertised as a service or brand, and I know the company is spending millions in advertising... I automatically just assume it's TMed, which 99% of the time is the case.

Anyway. if it is worth it to you, then by all means, exercise your rights

 

[DnPresident]

I just found out RapidRefund.name and RapidRefunds.name are developed and are not owned by HR either.......That doesn't make it right but from .com to .name there's no sign of HR so I assume it was a fraudster.

Thanks All.

 

[flamewalker]

Don't assume, but don't give them any ammo either. If it really is HR Block, you may be able to use the fact that other competing services are established on other very similar domains... that *might* give you an advantage. Thing is, if they don't try to protect the tm, they will lose it. So its better for them to at least try.

 

[Dave_Z]

I just found out RapidRefund.name and RapidRefunds.name are developed and are not owned by HR either

Either those 2 have some kind of arrangement with H&R, or H&R doesn't know
about them...yet. If it's the latter, it's probably an "oversight", which happens
every other day and could be rectified anytime.

Of course, others seemingly getting away with it doesn't mean you will too.

Thing is, any word can become a trademark, depending on a variety of things.
If it's especially registered at the relevant trademark database, USPTO in this
case, one's thinking it's generic means practically little to nothing.

 

[DnPresident]

Either those 2 have some kind of arrangement with H&R, or H&R doesn't know
about them...yet. If it's the latter, it's probably an "oversight", which happens
every other day and could be rectified anytime.

Of course, others seemingly getting away with it doesn't mean you will too.

Thing is, any word can become a trademark, depending on a variety of things.
If it's especially registered at the relevant trademark database, USPTO in this
case, one's thinking it's generic means practically little to nothing.

Like I said up there, everything with rapidtaxrefund from .com to .name appears to have no association with HRB...

Oh yeah, they also have TAX Cut trademarked which is just as ridiculous.

 

[flamewalker]

Neither is ridiculous actually... they are the names of their services and products. It would NOT be fair for others to be able to use their product/service names for the same products without repercussions. TM's and patents are there to protect peoples names and works from copy and benefit from their work.

 

[richrf]

Hi all,

A couple of questions:

1) Can RapidRefundTaxes be used as a site which, let's say, has a set of url links to government sites that describe how to expedite tax refunds over the Internet, and therefore not be infringing on a loan service - or is it too late for this?

2) Can Apple be used as a Trademark in the food industry - e.g. to describe a particular type of genetically advantaged apple (just as an example)?

Thanks for the responses?

Rich