Trademark on "Million Dollar Homepage"

[Travis]

You do relize Million Dollar Homepage is a TM right?

 

[Xombie]

Patents protect inventions... not concepts...

Exactly. The plugboard has been around for a fair while and charging to maintain a permanant spot on a plugboard is nothing exciting.

 

[labrocca]

Yeah and if he did have a patent I really doubt he would protect it.

 

[user-7256]

(removed)

 

[Zeeble]

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.

What a crazy figure Labrocaa, not sure where you magiced that one from....

Look here:

http://www.patent.gov.uk/patent/forms/index.htm

I know that in the UK you must first have a UK patent before you get an international one. It certainly does NOT come to £55k, more like £2-£3k to get an international patent.

I have looked into this, and it is possible to get a country patent for around £500 if done through certain channels.

 

[labrocca]

Well there is a lot of research that needs to be done before filing a patent. Normally this is done with lawyers..I am sure it can be done cheaper but that's a weak patent. You have to make sure that the patent you write is air-tight. You have to make sure that HOW you write it is very original and doesn't infringe on any other previous patent. This is time consuming and normally what can take a long time when you file for one.

I guess I overshot.

http://www.dnapatent.com/law/cost.html

Still it's expensive.

 

[Zeeble]

You are right though in saying that it is unlikely that he got a patent. For a student it's still expensive, plus you would have GREAT difficulty in filing a patent for a website. More over, it can take up to 4 years for your patent to go through....

 

[labrocca]

Well he has made 240k already...so he could spend 10-15k easy on a patent I just find this very unlikely and also he hasn't posted this on his site. No one can show proof of a patent or even confirm it.

 

[sunken]

Why get a patent? He is going to remain the top dog in his quest for a million dollars and the concept, though ingenious, has a shelf life. The patent would take years and by that time, no one would care. The fact that he didn't get a patent beforehand and the text on his site that he doesn't care if other people try it leads me to believe that he doesn't really want a patent or applied for one. TM on the other hand, is a different matter.

 

[Robson]

All the people creating the rip off sites need to get abit more creative, I can't stand them. The idea was great, why bother trying to profit from it? I've seen about 10 different versions, all as bad as the next.

It has a shelf life, and probably won't be around much after christmas.

 

[labrocca]

I am sure he is just as stunned as the rest of us by the success. Many of us try to strike gold only to find lead time after time. I found silver and bronze more than once though.

Congrats to the guy for hitting paydirt.

 

[digital]

Cant be TM. Its a nice idea, everyone can develop i guess. And according to the TM site, its not trademarked.

 

[Zeeble]

Cant be TM. Its a nice idea, everyone can develop i guess. And according to the TM site, its not trademarked.

You obviously did not read the thread. It is a trademark, but just not a registered tramemark.

TradeMark: "a name, word, symbol, or device that allows the trademark owner to dictate its use in identifying a product, eg, logos and brand names."

 

[Refrozen]

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]

Do you need to pay for a trademark? No.

 

[TTHosting]

not to mention 250.000 doesn't go far in lawyer fees..