Trademark trolling for fun and profit

[Kenny]

Trademark trolling for fun and profit

I just visited Castlecops.com (one of the best security resources on the Net) and was amazed to see well-known trademark "fan" Leo Stoller throwing a big pile of legal mumbo-jumbo at Castlecops, because he objects to their use of the word "Castle". He's attempted this many times before with other people (Google, for example)...check out Sunbelt Software's coverage of his boobery here. Or (if you can't be bothered clicking link after link), here's the deal. This guy registers tons of rather bland sounding words as Trademarks, then goes on an uber-offensive against anybody found using those words, pretty much regardless of context.

From the big pile of legal mumbo-jumbo sent to Castlecops:

The potential opposer holds common law rights and have been using the mark CASTLE for many years, prior to your client's use of the said mark as a Trademark, service mark and/or tradename. We engage in an active and aggressive trademark licensing program promoting the said mark, and thus invite your client to become a trademark licensee of ours.

....well, not that aggressive, because Castlecops has been around for quite some time. Actually:

1) 1,540,000 references to Castlecops in Google alone.

2) They're also the site that hosts the PIRT initiative (shutting down Phishers on a global scale) and this venture (in a joint-effort with Sunbelt Software) had a massive news splash not so long ago, yet Stoller apparently missed this too.

3) Their pagerank is 12,560 in Alexa. That's an extremely healthy traffic ranking, and the site gets pimped all over the damn place. Yep, that must have passed him by as well...

4) The domain has been around since at least 2004 - and it didn't suddenly appear out of the sky, it was a continuation of their old domain, Computercops. Yet no legal threats until now?

I don't know how long this Stoller guy has held the word "Castle" for, and searching the US Trademark database gave me nothing conclusive on the mark Stoller is supposed to own. Regardless, one of the key things about protecting your trademarks, is actually getting out there and doing something about it. To be seen to be actively patrolling the block, and watching out for any new up-and-coming troublemakers is one of the most important aspects of trademark defence. In fact, some people would say it's the most important aspect, but either way:

Did this guy suddenly jump on the Castlecops guys the moment the new domain was out the door? Did he stumble across any of the four points above (or others like them) and do something about it?

...or did he send what looks like an opportunistic, show-me-the-money-style letter on the off chance he might rattle some cages?

Sorry, pal. Move it or lose it. And in this case, you've apparently sat round since 2004 and lost it. If you've held this mark for as long as you claim you have, letting Castlecops rumble on seemingly unchecked for two years or more is going to get you a grade-A smackdown from the legal-type people. The word "Castle" is horrendously generic in any case, and unless Stoller's castle-based venture has something to do with fighting spyware, there's another few dents to add in the rapidly-weakening-argument armour.

Can't wait to see Castlecops' reply. Keep an eye on their site, because they intend to make their response public. Stoller may well have walked into the proverbial hornet's nest here - there's nothing worse than a bunch of angry security type people numbering in their thousands.

Here's Stoller's Blog - no, I can't make head nor tails of it either. Let's hope Castlecops slices and dices this guy's legal "complaint" and puts him off attempting something like this for, oh, at least another fortnight...!

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