Hello guys, I just got this email from my hosting provider, I changed the second word of my domain name cause of protection, but main word "tumb" still remain. When i registered domain name i was thinking about trademark problems, so I avoided the word "tumblr" in domain name. Instead of it I was sure that word "tumb" can't cause any problems with trademark policy. So, I want to hear your advice. Is my domain name break the TM rules or not. My site is not "follow train" type and it's not forces people to do favor for favor, or follow for follow like "follow train". Also, they didn't sent email directly to me, they have all my contact, email, address, mobile phone in domain details, instead they contacted hosting provider. What do you think, is this is just a try to shutdown my site by contacting the hosting provider, so maybe they thought it will succeed if they try. They mention something about spam which I didn't understand. My site is working by tumblr users who registered them self and picking some kind of widget which they add in to their tumblogs. I don't really see problem that my site cause, I don't have any ads on my website, site is free service for tumblrs only, I don't have any other outlinks to any site except tumblr.com. So, my site is just making tumblr more useful and popular. Btw, there are sites like tumblrplug dot com and tumbletrain . com and it's popular service. That is what they use "follow train", but my site is not like that and it's not force people to do favor for favor. How this sites is still online then ? They use word "tumblr" in domain name, and I just use word "tumb". Also, I noticed that sites i mention above tumblrplug and tumbletrain have this text on their websites "Tumbletrain is not affiliated with Tumblr. This is just a 3rd party website to help your tumblr become more popular, to gain more followers with people who will enjoy our tumble blogs!" If I put same text on my site, can it help ? Any help or advice is useful for me. If any of you want to see my site, PM and I will send you link, but only to trusted members or someone who is interesting to help me. Thanks in advance. Stefan
Most likely this is an email to scare you. First find out, do they actually have a trademark. If yes, is your domain really that identical to theirs, and are you in the same niche. If so, then they might have a point here, BUT in that case you should contact a lawyer immediately for legal advice.
Tnx for replay, ilook. That is what I thought to, they are just trying to get site down by writing to hosting provider some thing what is not true. Any more advice, help, suggestion guys ?
I am by no means an expert when it comes to trademark law, but let me say this email did give me a giggle. I personally do not see tumblr taking any action against you (for money reasons) nor do I think they have a probable cause. Them saying tumblr is too similar to tumb is quite funny - I suppose tumblr should also sue tums now? lol.. just a thought.
Maybe I just need to put disclaimer that my site is not in affiliate with tumblr ... or maybe is just logo problem. It's made in same font, but not colors and effects. But still, it's a public font, not their I think.
The advice here in the forum is only for your reference, also they are talking about facilitating spam attacks etc, you may want to take a look.
Well it depends what is your website? Not sure what they mean facilitating spam. Here is a list I put together on my opinion of tumblr promoting sites. tumblrplug.com < I love this one and by far the best one to use. You will find true/real followers and they will find you as there is always a lot of users on and your not forced to do anything. tumblrfamo.us < new (Copy of tumblrplug.com) has bots on it 24/7. I try contacting owner but doesn't respond back. problr.com < new (Copy of tumblrplug.com) used it but owner lies about gold points. Put her friends first before anyone else using the site! tumblrpromo.com < new (Copy of tumblrplug.com) they lie about how many followers you will get under VIP sites dead for one and charge for a spot. tumbletrain.com < a follow train. You have to do those annoying surveys sometimes to use the site. Has a lots of bots. tumblerocket.com < new (Copy of tumbletrain.com) a follow train. Nothing special and never seem to gain anything. tumblia.com < umm not sure about this one haven't used it but looks fail to me. I also saw the owner spamming tumblrfamo.us about his site not being safe. Ones that have died or been taken down. tumtrain.com < was a follow train. tumblrush.com < forced you to follow people you didn't want to in return you got followers that would just unfollow you. motherfumblr.com < mainly charged and wasn't good if you didn't pay. tumbletop.us < I never got what this one was about. tumble.me.uk < forced you to follow people you didn't want to in return you got followers that would just unfollow you. tumblshout.co.nr < by far the worst one but now goes to a tumblr blog. Many more I can't think of right this second.
If you aren't in any way trying to profit or make the company look bad you won't have a problem, and not to mention you aren't infringing upon there trademark as they don't own what they claim your infringing upon, It's like others have said a scare tactic tell them to get lost, You might have problems with your hosting company though as most will get scared and terminate your account before they risk any legal problems.
Trademark owners have the right to go after anything that is "confusingly similar" to their registered mark. The fact that you have used their font in your logo and that you don't have any disclaimer are certainly not helping you. Tumblr could argue that a reasonable person who comes across your site might think that it was an official Tumblr service. I would definitely add a disclaimer and change the logo, though that might not be enough.
If you are using the tumb prefix and selling a Tumblr bot/spam service then you might be in trouble with the name as all these factors are taken into account in trade mark disputes. If you simply run a site about cats and decided the domain tumbcat.com was a good catchy name then I doubt they would have got in touch to be honest. I'm not saying you are or aren't in the right - just something to consider.
I'm the owner of Tumblia.com. Firstly. Where did you get your information from? I've never spammed any other Tumblr networks and I don't intend to do it in the future. One of the reasons I had to change the Tumblia setup was actually due to a "Tumblr Train" spamming Tumblia's comment forms. If a Tumblia link has been shared on other networks it's most likely a user or someone with a similar service. That's outside of my control.Tumblia is a completely free service where Tumblr users can share their Tumblr links and meet other users. No funny business. And in the future try out a service before you fail it. With regards to the trademark issue. If it's clearly stated that your service is not affiliated with Tumblr, and it's design and name is distinct from that service, you're fine.