Qwest Law Dept. is on the case!

[yandig]

I registered mabell.info a couple of months ago. Out of 110 domains, it's probably my worst. Anyway, I got a letter from the Qwest Law Dept. Thanksgiving Eve, saying I was infringing on the BELL trademark, blah blah. So I have signed the paper saying that they can have the name transferred to them. (Just another reason why Qwest sucks)
Thing is, I registered the name at Dotster, and according to their policies, the free name can't be sold (i.e. transferred) for the remainder of the year from when I registered it.
Anybody have any experience in this type of situation?
Thanks

 

[Dave_Z]

I'm not an attorney, but I'll share what I know.

How long has it been since you got the name? How have you used the name
since you got it?

And it sounds like you signed the paper prematurely, too, depending on how
willing or not you are on defending the name.

Have you told them about Dotster's policy? Worse comes to worse, Qwest
will have to go thru the UDRP route to force the name change thru.

By then, the name might already qualify for the ownership transfer and they
might be $1000+ out.

 

[armstrong]

Just let them know about the dotster/.info situation. If you can forward the domain to their site right now, it will show them how sincere you are.

 

[yandig]

Thanks for your replies...
They did not give me a site to forward the name to. I have had the name for about 45 days & only parked the name at sedo since registering it. I am also not intent on keeping the name. I will try to contact them by phone to let them know of the Dotster policy.

 

[ZuraX]

Screw Quest. They are one of the biggest spam hosts around. You should have made them work for it.

If it was me I would have found someone with the last name Bell and asked them if they had wanted it for their "ma"

 

[IAmAllanShore]

Screw Quest. They are one of the biggest spam hosts around. You should have made them work for it.

If it was me I would have found someone with the last name Bell and asked them if they had wanted it for their "ma"

Nice idea, but not in the real world

-Allan

 

[Caveman]

...If it was me I would have found someone with the last name Bell and asked them if they had wanted it for their "ma"

LOL I love that idea! Too bad, as Allan said, it wouldn't fly.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

I registered mabell.info a couple of months ago. Out of 110 domains, it's probably my worst. Anyway, I got a letter from the Qwest Law Dept. Thanksgiving Eve, saying I was infringing on the BELL trademark, blah blah. So I have signed the paper saying that they can have the name transferred to them. (Just another reason why Qwest sucks)
Thing is, I registered the name at Dotster, and according to their policies, the free name can't be sold (i.e. transferred) for the remainder of the year from when I registered it.
Anybody have any experience in this type of situation?
Thanks

I'm actually quite confused also, why are they territorial of "mabell", what relation does Bell have to Mabell?

Yeah, I tried google, I'm just missing the forest for the trees.

-Allan

 

[Caveman]

mabell was kind of a nickname for the old mountian bell, which eventually became us west after the govt. broke up the monopoly and split it up into the "baby bells". Us west became qwest.

 

[armstrong]

If I recall correctly, "Ma Bell" was an old name for AT&T before its breakup. Google returns a lot of telco-related links: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="ma+bell"&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

What I don't understand is why qwest would pursue this. If anyone were to complain, I'd think it would be AT&T. Note that none of the other extensions are owned by qwest; in fact, com & net appear to be registered by someone in Spain. And then again, maybe its just your (bad) luck that QWest does have a TM, and they are only starting to enforce it now.

 

[Caveman]

I knew it had something to do with the telephone co. before the breakup. Thanks for setting the record straight, Apollo.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

I hate to ask, but it does seem weird (Were you using the site to compete with them in any way?) that they would seek to protect such a weak mark that carries no special legitimate business purpose in today's marketplace...

Anyhow, are you sure it is a legitimate C&D? Sounds like a perfect scam, if you ask me.

Scan and post with personals redacted?

-Allan

I registered mabell.info a couple of months ago. Out of 110 domains, it's probably my worst. Anyway, I got a letter from the Qwest Law Dept. Thanksgiving Eve, saying I was infringing on the BELL trademark, blah blah. So I have signed the paper saying that they can have the name transferred to them. (Just another reason why Qwest sucks)
Thing is, I registered the name at Dotster, and according to their policies, the free name can't be sold (i.e. transferred) for the remainder of the year from when I registered it.
Anybody have any experience in this type of situation?
Thanks

 

[yandig]

It does seem to be a legit letter from their law dept. I was only using the name for parking purposes, but because I had "competitor" phone service ad links on the parking page, they said that I was infringing on the BELL TM.

 

[Dave_Z]

but because I had "competitor" phone service ad links on the parking page, they said that I was infringing on the BELL TM.

That explains why they called you. I don't know how you'll convince them
otherwise, though, and I doubt they'll listen no matter what you say.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

Since you already signed the document, all you can do is let them know you can't transfer it until Jan 1. Otherwise, you could ask Dotster to manually do it under the circumstances. Send them a link to the policy.

As to the name, I belive Mabell (as opposed to Ma Bell) is actually a name (search google) that could be considered generic unless promoted as telephone related. The first Google page indicates this clearly.

Second, I thought AT&T was the original holder of the slang term Ma Bell, Qwest came along way after the breakup of "Ma Bell". Thirdly, is it really just a common used slang term, or do they hold a trademark on it, which I doubt. Sounds like they got it on shakey terms unless you were promoting it that way.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm

They all look dead to me except Ma Bell's potato chips.

-Allan

Since you already signed the document, all you can do is let them know you can't transfer it until Jan 1. Otherwise, you could ask Dotster to manually do it under the circumstances. Send them a link to the policy.

As to the name, I belive Mabell (as opposed to Ma Bell) is actually a name (search google) that could be considered generic unless promoted as telephone related. The first Google page indicates this clearly.

Second, I thought AT&T was the original holder of the slang term Ma Bell, Qwest came along way after the breakup of "Ma Bell". Thirdly, is it really just a common used slang term, or do they hold a trademark on it, which I doubt. Sounds like they got it on shakey terms unless you were promoting it that way.

 

[namewaiter]

they (qwest) actually have no right to the domain ... AT&T would have the best case to the name, they were referred to as mabell prior to deregulation of the phone monopoly

 

[Dave_Z]

Guys, don't forget yandig already signed the paper saying the name will be
transferred to them. If yandig reneges on that and it reaches UDRP, Qwest
can use that against yandig.

 

[jberryhill]

Contact Ravi Puri at Dotster and explain the situation.

If they asked you to sign a form, and you signed the form, then give yourself a pat on the head - you did what they asked you to do.

 

[yandig]

Thanks John,
I'm patting my head & rubbing my tummy.

Seriously, thanks everyone for your input. I will let you know how this plays out.

 

[armstrong]

Guys, don't forget yandig already signed the paper saying the name will be
transferred to them. If yandig reneges on that and it reaches UDRP, Qwest
can use that against yandig.

If Qwest turns out to have zero TM rights to the name, yandig can claim that he was duped into signing the document. Can't he use the fact that "false pretense" was used to extract the signature, as basis to repudiate the signed document?

 

[homebuyer]

mabell

I did a TM search of mabell. I didn't see QWEST anywhere.

There can be no infringement if you are not taking away business or making any money from your domain.

What state is on the legal department's letterhead?

Are you, the former registrant of mabell, a telecommunications company?

ATT was always known as Ma Bell. ATT and QWEST are competitors.

Unless QWEST bought the Ma Bell name, I don't see how they can claim the name.


Would you like to post the entire letter from QWEST legal for us to read and comment on?

 

[Caveman]

If I remember correctly (and I may not), ATT was broken up into the "baby bells" of which qwest was a part. The question in my mind is would the TM from ATT transfer to the "baby bells" upon the breakup? Just thinking out loud here.

 

[homebuyer]

ma and her babies

Maybe baby bell grew up and became a ma. Did QWEST have baby bells? But ATT (ma) is still around. Just thinking out loud.

 

[armstrong]

When AT&T was broken up, AT&T wasn't dissolved as a corporation. Instead, they had to spin off parts of the business, and then had to compete with the newly-created entities. So AT&T is still around, and is still the best (only?) credible claimant to an old "Ma Bell" trademark.