Common usage has to be incredibly wide spread, and as I've repeatedly said, it's not the same thing as a phrase having a "common meaning." "Rich jerk" has a common meaning. It didn't have common enough usage (as in it wasn't used often enough or regularly enough by a large enough portion of the population) before he came along with his marketing, to be any kind of issue trademark-wise. Common usage is more or less something the majority of people say (such as "happy birthday," "merry christmas," etc., or common every day phrases, like "get a life," or common cliches). People just don't go around saying "rich jerk" in that sense.
This thread will soon likely rank pretty high for rich jerk as well very soon whether you lose your domain or not... Oh the irony
Great Job with your SEO Ryan. As of today youre PR4! and Hes PR5 and you still beat him out for top spot. Last time I checked his SEO was when the whole stomper ordeal was going on and he didnt seem to have a clue - but I was checking for other keywords. I took a look at your site. One thing to note.... BE CAREFUL with your adsense ads. There was an announcement that they dont want to see images by their ads anymore... check the guidelines. you might want to change that. http://adsense.blogspot.com/2006/12/ad-and-image-placement-policy.html Best of luck in kicking the jerks butt. Trisha
I like your story, I don't like the story of a small computer repair shop "stood up for his rights" and kept www.nissan.com for himself. His case makes me wish for emminent domain in the domain name industry. He does many people a great disservice by keeping that domain and not taking Nissan's offer. I'd say Nissan Motors has a greater case than some guy name Rich that's a Jerk. Read the Nissan.com story for some inspiration.
Sounds like experience you talk from I take it you did not cough when they were squeezed a little ....
According to US Overture rich jerk is searched around 2657 times per month rich jerk scam is searched around 338 times(This shows people are losing faith on rich jerk fast) Is this guy same as one who sells crap e-book on how to make more money ? and keeps on spamming even if you unsubcribe from his opt in list if yes, he does not have any right to bully you. Just transfer the domain / hosting to someone from china/india/pakistan at the extreme case
Are you saying the Uzi Nissan should have given up?? Nissan was the man's family name. Don't tell me you wanted the poor guy to just roll over and die.
Ok I am not sure how this goes, your domain richjerkscams.com was created on Created: 2006-04-05 (from whois) But his Trademark got recognized on Registration Date November 14, 2006 From Us Gov Database Search. So now my question to lawyers(and wanabee lawyers) is, can someone sue you in the first place for using his/her trademark when the site was created it never even existed? How strong does the case hold against our friend here? Cheers
does it mean BMW or Ford now must say to anyone do not use it on their websites? gyus it's BS... first of all check again if his trademark was approved, he could apply for it but not granted as trade mark..
Excellent point. I think you have a strong case for keeping the domain name. In any case, if you are forced to give it up, be sure to screw up the rankings before you hand it over. Heh.
Or better piss off some meanass real good hacker . Than the other guy can have fun trying to block all the ddos for the life of domain
People have already said here that is trademark is approved.... And you should probably read through the thread before you make assumptions or misconstrue what peoploe are saying.... It's not BS, and what you're saying has absolutely nothing to do with what I posted. This isn't a question of whether or not you can use a company's name on your website (legitimately). It means you can't use it in your domain name other than specific exceptions, like legitimate complaint sites, some spoof sites, etc. EDIT: And yes paidhosting, they can still go after you even if the domain was registered before their federal trademark was recognized. Trademarks exist before they're registered. They simply have to prove "first use" in business... in his case, I doubt he would have any problem. The name of your domain itself implies it was registered after the existence of the program / ebook. The federal registration just means he can sue you in federal court, rather than just state courts.
As it is in just about every town. It just boggles the mind that somebody is trying to claim that the phrase wasn't well known before the web site & some e-book that most people in the 'real world' have most likely never heard of.
If you go back a few pages in this thread somebody has already mentioned that the first usage of the name is more important then the date that the TM approval was given. Also that TM may have been recently granted but if you check the history it was applied for some time ago.