IT.COM

discuss Trademark issues with meta and metaverse

Spaceship Spaceship
Watch

imwangi

Established Member
Impact
37
The phobia most "experts" here have about FB lawyers knocking on doors of alleged trademark violators in the middle of the night is too much. If we follow their advice, we won't even register our own names. We all understand the risks involved in this business, and some of us have a higher risk appetite, while others are risk averse. Any investment carries a certain level of risk. Of course, we shouldn't be reckless, but we can if in our estimation we can afford the risk. So, all this talk about some of us "wasting" money on meta and metaverse is getting a triffle annoying. Why can't everyone stay on their lane. Some will make money, others won't; and that's just how life is!
 
0
•••
The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
It's a public forum - people can express whatever opinion they want, as long as it follows the rules of Namepros......no need for people telling others to "stay in lane"

It's not a Phobia - FB has a history of aggressively protecting their TM - stands to reason once the dust settles they will do so with Meta (depending on the categories they get cover for)

It is frowned upon by the community to register blatant TM domains (Meta currently is a grey area with multiple TM's in place, more pending and then there will be the issue of confusingly similar domains that might not be covered by TM's but could be pursued through UDRP's)

There is a big difference between risk taking and trying to profit from a company's brand that has taken in some cases years and years to establish.......(other companies apart from Meta)

Edit:

Also a lot of the domains being registered are absolute garbage so that is likely where the phrase "wasting your money" is coming from........
 
Last edited:
11
•••
0
•••
FB has a history of aggressively protecting their TM
Face + book is not a natural word combination so anyone (ab)using these is definitely a trademark infringer. Yes, some of those people who would register "facebook" and/or lookalike domains to get hit by the lawyers and UDRP cases are NP members as well.

You should read some of these UDRP cases, people make up such nonsense in their defence... Yet apparently they believe their own nonsense, therefore for them Facebook is a demonic entity constantly attacking "innocent" people.

Thats how you have these assumptions Facebook is going to sue everyone around over "meta".
 
0
•••
Its a balance, and part common sense, with regards to not stepping on peoples toes. Meta is so incredibly generic. If you owned "meta grass dot com", and you're a small grass cutting business, Facebook or those associated with Facebook will not care, as it isn't within their business interests
 
Last edited:
1
•••
Face + book is not a natural word combination so anyone (ab)using these is definitely a trademark infringer. Yes, some of those people who would register "facebook" and/or lookalike domains to get hit by the lawyers and UDRP cases are NP members as well.

You should read some of these UDRP cases, people make up such nonsense in their defence... Yet apparently they believe their own nonsense, therefore for them Facebook is a demonic entity constantly attacking "innocent" people.

Thats how you have these assumptions Facebook is going to sue everyone around over "meta".
Assumption? No, they are going to be pouring in huge amounts of money to build a brand - what do think they will do? Just sit back and let every Tom, Dick and Harry register every meta domain under the sun and expect a payday.....it's not going to happen, they have the ones they want, still chasing a few more, after that and once the dust settles a lot of people are going to be holding their d*ck in their hands and waving it in the breeze...then once all the relevant TM's are in place is any other company going to want to get involved and call themselves Meta or Meta + Keyword in those TM categories?.....

No chance....
 
Last edited:
1
•••
People need to ask themselves 'why' are you investing in 'meta' domains, are you doing it on the back of Facebook's parent company now being called 'Meta'? If the answer is yes then you are attempting to cash in another companies name and buying/registering in bad faith and therefore infringing.

This couldn't be said 9 days ago before the announcement, we just saw crazy sales was happening and people wanted a slice of the pie, but now Facebook have gone public with the rebrand and now we know 'why' these sales was happening, people need to be careful what they buy/register from now onwards.
 
Last edited:
8
•••
No, they are going to be pouring in huge amounts of money to build a brand
Who exactly said they are going to build a brand in that way – by owning everything "meta"? This is an assumption, and quite a huge one.

Google is not doing anything like that in regards of Alphabet, moreover, there are numerous Alphabet trademarks of all sorts which were applied for and consequently granted by various businesses after Google's Alphabet came into existence.
 
0
•••
Who exactly said they are going to build a brand in that way – by owning everything "meta"? This is an assumption, and quite a huge one.

Google is not doing anything like that in regards of Alphabet, moreover, there are numerous Alphabet trademarks of all sorts which were applied for and consequently granted by various businesses after Google's Alphabet came into existence.
We will see - FB is becoming toxic, heavy regulation is on the way and Generation Z and younger don't want to touch it........

Alphabet was created for being a holding company, not a new standalone Brand......
 
1
•••
Why can't everyone stay on their lane.
Sounds like you just want people to keep their traps shut and let people grift off people's TMs.

Many people are trying to persuade everyone else that thier names aren't subject to TMs the reality is that they are. Ill informed opinions shall not be entertained just because you want to "take on risk".
 
Last edited:
0
•••
Assumption? No, they are going to be pouring in huge amounts of money to build a brand - what do think they will do? Just sit back and let every Tom, Dick and Harry register every meta domain under the sun and expect a payday.....it's not going to happen, they have the ones they want, still chasing a few more, after that and once the dust settles a lot of people are going to be holding their d*ck in their hands and waving it in the breeze...then once all the relevant TM's are in place is any other company going to want to get involved and call themselves Meta or Meta + Keyword in those TM categories?.....

No chance....
To add what you have stated, Facebook said it will spend 10 billion for the branding of Metaverse.
 
1
•••
Play with fire and some day you will get burn.
 
4
•••
Face + book is not a natural word combination so anyone (ab)using these is definitely a trademark infringer.

I found this:

A face book or facebook is a common or web directory found at some american universities consisting of individuals' photographs and names.

...

By the early 2000s, some face books were being published online offering a number of new features, including password protection, more detailed information, more advanced indexing and searching, and the ability for people to upload and enter information and photographs.

In early 2004, Mark Zuckerberg, a sophomore at Harvard University, created an unofficial online face book at the website "thefacebook.com", the forerunner of the Facebook service, out of frustration that the university's official online face book project was taking too long.

...

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_book

So, according to this source, it seems "face book" or "facebook" is originally a generic term ...

... which, interestingly, Mark Zuckerberg (or someone on his behalf) were able to protect as a brand (interestingly because normally it is not possible to protect a generic term as brand for what the generic term stands (because same class), but there seem to be exceptions possible).
 
1
•••
So, according to this source, it seems "face book" or "facebook" is originally a generic term

So what?

Coca and Cola were two of the ingredients used in a soft drink invented in 1892.

American Airlines is an American airline.

International Business Machines is an international company that sells business machines.

"Face book" or "facebook" were never generic terms for an online social networking system.
 
4
•••
This is more about branding than it is about Trademarks, because even if Meta's trademark application is rejected (its very possible because there were Meta brands before it and its a broad filing across many business classes) companies will still want to steer away from being confused with Meta and know they will be out ranked in Google by Meta in all results falling under its shadow so why would a company spend 10s of thousands of dollars on a domain/brand that will tank their marketing efforts?

Better to brand brand with some other Metaverse brand like MV or MVerse or Keyword + Verse. So you can stand out.
 
2
•••
because even if Meta's trademark application is rejected (its very possible because there were Meta brands before it and its a broad filing across many business classes) companies will still want to steer away from being confused with Meta
Not from what I can tell from the US trademarks database...

I agree with what you've said about people not wanting to be confused though with them being such a behemoth.
 
Last edited:
0
•••
I don't know about you guys,
But I once had contact to Facebook advocates because of a x-Facebook.com domain.

And that was totally understandable.

But
Meta is something that comes at a time into the internet, when there are already thousands of meta companies out there.

I truly have no fear about meta related domains.

Even if I'd own metapay.com

I would be lucky about it.
 
0
•••
i think its ironic because zuckerberg stole the name "facebook" from harvard's student directory

this is an actual livejournal blog post zuckerberg made the night he was creating facemash:

9:48pm. I’m a little intoxicated, not gonna lie. So what if it’s not even 10pm and it’s a Tuesday night? What? The Kirkland facebook is open on my computer desktop and some of these people have pretty horrendous facebook pics. I almost want to put some of these faces next to pictures of farm animals and have people vote on which is more attractive. It’s not such a great idea and probably not even funny, but Billy comes up with the idea of comparing two people from the facebook, and only sometimes putting a farm animal in there. Good call Mr. Olson! I think he’s onto something.
 
Last edited:
1
•••
i think its ironic because zuckerberg stole the name "facebook" from harvard's student directory

this is an actual livejournal blog post zuckerberg made the night he was creating facemash:
As I know, most of the 'journals' you get after finishing school (12 years) in the USA, are or were supposed to be called facebooks...

Maybe I'm wrong, don't konw.
 
0
•••
As I know, most of the 'journals' you get after finishing school (12 years) in the USA, are or were supposed to be called facebooks...

Maybe I'm wrong, don't konw.
Yeah, it doesn't sound like stealing to me based on that.
 
1
•••
As I know, most of the 'journals' you get after finishing school (12 years) in the USA, are or were supposed to be called facebooks...

Maybe I'm wrong, don't konw.
They're Yearbooks not Facebooks
 
1
•••
They're Yearbooks not Facebooks
Zuckerberg developed the code for theyearbook.org I believe, early on, on behalf of the Winklevoss twins... So that would make sense. That was an early incarnation of Facebook. I've owned that name for years...
 
0
•••
It would be great if their trademark application were rejected. I think it should be personally. But let's see...
 
1
•••
0
•••
Last edited:
0
•••
Back