Trademark on "Million Dollar Homepage"

[Travis]

You do relize Million Dollar Homepage is a TM right?

 

[downloadfreak]

You do relize Million Dollar Homepage is a TM right?

how so?

 

[l0zo]

Yes how so?

 

[Travis]

Just go to http://milliondollarhomepage.com and look in their logo, there is a TM watermark, meaning its trademarked.

 

[DropLister]

just cause they slapped a TM on the logo doesnt mean the term "million dollar homepage" is a TM, and according to uspto.gov its not a US TM either, and further more, some people dont care about whether its a TM or not

[/rambling]

 

[Zeeble]

just cause they slapped a TM on the logo doesnt mean the term "million dollar homepage" is a TM, and according to uspto.gov its not a US TM either, and further more, some people dont care about whether its a TM or not

[/rambling]

It doesn't have to be a registered TM to be a TM. A trademark is any mark often associated with the business, and essential to that business. So yes, it is a TM.

 

[snoopi]

Just go to http://milliondollarhomepage.com and look in their logo, there is a TM watermark, meaning its trademarked.

:lol: you newbie!

 

[RJ]

I split this discussion from a marketplace thread, so it can be discussed without being considering sales crashing.

This issue is debatable. I believe you could run into trouble operating a site you call the "Million Dollar Homepage" with the same concept if the original site took offense. A term doesn't have to have a registered trademark to be protectable. Besides, it takes a year in the United States for a trademark application to even become a trademark and this site is barely a month old. The real MDHP is in the UK, and though I'm not familiar with UK trademark law I assume it is similar to US.

 

[clowesy]

The Million Dollar Homepage is officially patented. I.e if anyone wants to use the idea they have to pay alex a set amount and get his permission. It was all over the Uk press how he recieved the quickest patenting in a long time.

Basically copy it and your screwed.

 

[user-7256]

TM's may be placed even though no registration was filed. If it says (R), then watch out, lol... source: http://www.lawfaq.info

 

[daze]

The Million Dollar Homepage is officially patented. I.e if anyone wants to use the idea they have to pay alex a set amount and get his permission. It was all over the Uk press how he recieved the quickest patenting in a long time.

Basically copy it and your screwed.

if it was all over the UK press, is there a link to an article somewhere? i'm trying to find one without success. thanks

 

[RJ]

The Million Dollar Homepage is officially patented. I.e if anyone wants to use the idea they have to pay alex a set amount and get his permission. It was all over the Uk press how he recieved the quickest patenting in a long time.

Basically copy it and your screwed.

I'd also like to see this if you have a link. That's quite different than what his own site says,

12. Are you worried about copy-cats/rip-offs?

Not at all. It is bound to happen (this is the internet afterall), and infact, I think it will work in my favour. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So I think any copy-cat sites will only have pure comedy value, whereas mine possibly has a bit of comedy PLUS some actual pull in terms of advertising dollars (I will be able to afford swanky socks, they will only get to buy crappy ones probably! They could have my old ones, if they like).

So I say good luck to the imitators! While in my opinion it's not very cool - I would prefer to come up with something original - in many ways the act of copying (perhaps more on a subconcious level than anything) is the basis of all creativity. But yeah, really bad rip-offs are seriously lame - I mean, if you're gonna copy the concept, at least come up with your own design and text!

UK folks > am I bothered?

He even says "Good luck to the imitators". While I hope he does go after those who copy his design and text, I doubt he will have much of a case against others using the same concept.

 

[labrocca]

The Million Dollar Homepage is officially patented. I.e if anyone wants to use the idea they have to pay alex a set amount and get his permission. It was all over the Uk press how he recieved the quickest patenting in a long time.

Basically copy it and your screwed.

I would like to see this "patent". Also he would NEVER be able to enforce it unless he wants to spend his million. Usually to file a patent costs over 100k. I am doubtful he did it.

I really really want to read hi patent papers if they exist. I am not sure how he would explain what is unique and how that can effect other sites.

 

[RegFee]

I agree, the concept would be hard to protect . It would be like Google suing Yahoo and TargetFirst for using Contextual Advertisments.

 

[user-7256]

Patents protect inventions... not concepts...

 

[l0zo]

Nicely said CompuXP

 

[labrocca]

That's why I want to read this so called patent. I can't see where the invention is. The concept is unique but there is nothing in the concept that I feel is an invention.

Can ANYONE confirm that he has a patent?

 

[aZooZa]

About the only thing he can claim would be some copyright IMHO, and there's no filing necessary for that. There is no TM or patent issue as far as I can see.

 

[slantednet]

Patents protect inventions... not concepts...

Eh, not really. Example #1: Amazon 1-click checkout... Just because it was developed in a digital realm doesn't mean it's excluded from patent protection. He developed a system for selling advertising...

But he doesn't have a patent on it, that's for sure. It does cost money, and he's talking about buying new socks, I'm sure he's not worried about filing a patent applicaiton.

 

[Dr. Domaining]

First and foremost, what do you think the TM is for? It is most certainly to trademark something without actually registering the trademark itself. It will still stand up in the court of law as long as the party can claim first use in commerce. If there is a registered trademark you will see a (R). As far as the patent is concerned he could certainly obtain a design patent, IMO. Even if he was not the first to actually come up with the concept or the design, he could still be the first one to file and still be granted the patent if nobody protests it. Both trademarks and patents are not approved overnight and I highly doubt that he has a fully registered trademark or patent at this point but that is also besides the point.