UDRP shopify.ai

[Igor Gabrielan]

Today the company Shopify started a dispute with me regarding the name shopify.ai .
I have many excellent arguments, which I will describe later.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Let's try a quiz

1. Look at these sunglasses, which have a single letter printed on the temple:

Who makes these glasses?

2. This car has two letters on it:

Who makes that car?

3. This car has three letters on it:

Do those three letters distinctly identify a particular brand of car?

4. Here's ANOTHER car with three letter on it. Same question:

5. Here's a building with three letters on it:

What sort of business do you think goes on in that building?

6. How about this building with three letters on it:

Any idea what goes on in there?

7. Here's a printer with two letters on it:

Can you tell who made that printer?

8. You turn on your television and you see this:

Do you know where that news is coming from?

9. What if you turn on your television and see this instead:

Where does that news come from?

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Extra credit question just for Igor:

Here are three letters on a building in Zaporizhzhia. Do you know what company that is and what they make?

Now, sure, I don't expect everyone from every country to necessarily be able to identify those marks, but everyone, everywhere is surrounded by three, two and even one letter trademarks pretty much every day.

http://whois.ai/faq.html

10.UDRP

1. As of Jan 1, 2023 we do not accept UDRP challenges for domains where there is only 1, 2, or 3 characters before the ".ai".
   

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

As for Ukraine, it's easy to guess it was my doing. These were some kind of scammers from Russia who had infiltrated, among other things, the Ukrainian market, and I helped drive them out. But this is just an example. Of course, Ukraine has no special influence on the .ai domain.

 

[draco]

Can you find the word shopify in a dictionary anywhere? It's not listed at the morewords link you supplied. It's not at dictionary.com or Merriam Webster.

 

[draco]

Is Facebook in Webster dictionary?

No. That's my point. It's not a dictionary word. It's invented, as Shopify states.

 

[Alop]

The company bought these names, but did not win them back in disputes

Da Igor …Brands are able to file for takebacks

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

No. That's my point. It's not a dictionary word. It's invented, as Shopify states.

But perhaps not invented by them.
shopify.net registered December 22, 2005
Remember, the company was founded in 2006.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

By the way, I just registered metaversify.ai
I do not claim to be an invention.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Metaversify

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

When Shopify was first an e-commerce platform, it was called Jaded Pixel. Shopify as we know it today was founded in Ottawa by Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Lake.

 

[Mize]

It's not impossible...its easy and what you have to do. You just have to understand and learn how.
If there is a trademark for "Metaverse" for confectionery products then you cannot use Metaverse for confectionery products.... you would have to use it for something else....to prevent infringement.

 

[Mize]

Now, why this is interesting to me:
When I go to shopify.com, I would expect to see a marketplace something similar to Amazon, but that is not what I get.
When I go to bookify.com, I would expect to see books for sale, but that is not what I get.

I assume most domain investors invest in domains that hopefully many people see value in.
Before someone buys a domain, you don't know who will buy the domain, you don't know what they will use the domain for nor how much they are willing to pay for the domain.

Whomever has the domain, they have to make sure they are not infringing on others' trademarks.

This may be opening up a can of worms, but, from my perspective, anyone who is trying to obtain a domain through UDRP or similar process, needs to answer this question:

For domains in general:
Assuming the trademark has not be intentionally infringed upon:
If the complainant never existed, is it reasonable to believe that the domain has value to at least one other party?

If the answer to that question is yes, then the complainant is in line for a desirable domain (trademark is irrelevant if not being infringed upon).

Furthermore, if the complainant answers "yes" and continues the UDRP/similar process it would seem to be attempted theft.

If the complainant answers "no" there would seem to be a denial of reality.
If the complainant does not answer, they are not willing to commit to yes or no and the process should not proceed.

----------------------
Another question that could be asked is: Does the complainant believe that the part of the domain left of the dot can be trademarked for something other than what the complainant has their trademark for?

Again, if their answer is "yes" and their trademark has not been intentionally infringed upon, then it would seem they are attempting theft.

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edit: For: (If the complainant answers "no" there would seem to be a denial of reality.)
I should have mentioned that there could be a situation in which it would not be a denial of reality.

 

[Mize]

>What are you going to do?
Not use the domain in a way that would infringe on the trademark.

 

[tonyk2000]

Copypasted from whois :
Creation Date: 2017-12-15T22:59:36.230Z
OK, if the official whois in wrong - just one question. Did you register .ai before 2005-03-11 (.com registration date), and, if so, would you be able to show relevant proofs (invoices, emails) to the panel?

 

[tonyk2000]

I simply gave the Auth code, and they took it.

Make sure that udrp is terminated. It should be the case, but... Did you receive any sort of termination notification from Canadian disputes centre?

 

[Revisiting]

That's a bit Rich - given we all here to profit from domains

 

[Mize]

I’ve been trying to find out if there is a broader rule for which words can take -ify and found one definition that it works with “some” words.

One thing about English is that it does not come directly from one ancestor language. English has Latin, Greek, Old French and Germanic words, and sometimes you can only do some things to one of those. It turns out that -ify is used on some Latin origin words. “Shop” is a Germanic origin word. One could use the Latin origin “emporium” instead, but emporify is still not a word.

"Shopify" looks just like "Shopify"...smile, so for me, i'm not iffy on ify. My perception is that for most domain investors, any use of an "ify" gives other "ify"s seemingly more value/recognition. So shopify gives bookify more value and bookify gives shopify more value. Any trademarks on a specific "ify" can remove value for that "ify" because it removes possible goods and services that can be offered under the "ify"

I would like to know from your experience and knowledge of USPTO: Can you think of a good or service that someone could label as "Shopify" and not infringe on a current "Shopify" trademark?

I would think there would be, otherwise under Goods and Services in the trademark it would list: "Anything and Everything"


Thank you for your input!

 

[jberryhill]

The classics of Marxism-Leninism were right when they spoke of the immoral essence of the capitalist system.

They were just upset no one wanted to buy their domains.

 

[DomainNature]

If something post updates, I will make sure to harm their reputation, cause I hate how all this s*** websites copy my round corners designs.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

So I challenge Shopify.
Will they decide on an honest dispute in a neutral country, and not in Canada?
So that their CEO came to an honest dispute, without a bunch of corrupt lawyers and bureaucrats?
If not, then, as Marsk wrote, these are bourgeois trembling for their skin.

 

[Mize]

But it is exactly nonsense like this which makes it more difficult to defend legitimate domain registrants.

For domains in general:

Can't we figure out a question or two that the complainant needs to answer that could put a halt to process?

Would need to be questions that are not already being asked.

If these two questions below are not the correct way...then what?

1) If the complainant never existed, is it reasonable to believe that the domain has value to at least one other party?

2) Complainant, can you think of a good or service that someone could label as your trademark and not infringe on your current trademark?

 

[jberryhill]

Did the word "lego" exist before the company Lego was founded?

Who cares? It is a contraction of "leg godt" which means "play well" in Danish. So, to the folks who adopted the brand, it sounded like "play well".

The words "red bull" existed before that company was founded, but I'm certain everyone reading this page happened to think of a particular drink in a can when they saw those two words.

You seem to have this notion that a trademark needs to be "invented" by the company using it.

Generations of people were named "FORD" before Henry Ford started a car company, too. So what?

The name "McDonalds" existed, and still exists among people with that name.

The name "Starbucks" was a character in a novel that the founder of the coffee chain liked.

The word "Apple" certainly existed too.

Absolutely "lyft" sounds like "lift" and "Uber" is certainly a word in German with a long history.

I don't know why you think these things matter, but you can carry on with your imaginary ideas about trademarks and domain disputes.

I just feel bad that I've spent two decades defending domain registrants using arguments, evidence, logic and the law, when it would have been so much easier just to pay bribes.

Oh well, too soon old, too late smart for me.

I bow to your genius and clearly superior knowledge of a subject in which I've been working for decades.

 

[jberryhill]

Google Translate translates the word "lego" from Catalan as "I read". This is right?

It might mean all things in all kinds of languages. So what?

Obviously, nobody who registered any of those hundreds of domain names was promoting reading in Catalonia, so it doesn't matter.

 

[Mize]

something interesting about "ify" to get a little better understanding

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/the-basics-of-verbing-nouns/

"If you can’t find an existing verb to describe what you’re doing, just verbify the nearest noun!"

"It can be argued that the time it takes to verbify a noun is becoming shorter, which causes some people to protest."

and a bit on "ify" companies:

https://www.geekwire.com/2013/ify-naming-fad-spotify-start/

"The ‘ify’ naming fad: Did Spotify start it?"

 

[Future Sensors]

shopify.ai.             86400   IN      NS      ns1.markmonitor.com.
shopify.ai.             86400   IN      NS      ns2.markmonitor.com.
shopify.ai.             86400   IN      NS      ns3.markmonitor.com.
shopify.ai.             86400   IN      NS      ns4.markmonitor.com.
shopify.ai.             86400   IN      NS      ns5.markmonitor.com.

 

[Future Sensors]

This is the outcome. Thanks everyone for the discussion.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Dear All,

We understand that the domain has been successfully transferred to Shopify Inc.

We thank you for your cooperation in efficiently resolving this matter.

We look forward to working with you again in the future.



Please let us know if you have any questions or feedback.

We will proceed to close file xxxxx-UDRP.

Canadian International Internet Dispute Resolution Centre