There's no bullying going on. I've just never been a fan of companies having similar (if not precisely the same) brands. It leads to a lot of consumer confusion & isn't necessary when there are better, easier brandable names out there. In this day & age with such a feverish, competitive market it's best to set yourself apart from the competition anyways. You don't want to have consumers being confused & it's rarely in your best interest. Just my two cents.
Jack, from what I see here ( demeanor etc..) I think you shoud immediately trademark your domainname. You probbly have an equal right to develope this brand as David. David if you disagree, why don't you offer some definative proof that you utilized this brand in the specific field of hosting previous to his doing the same. Maybe something like a business license, record of copyright or trademark appl.. Or maybe articles of incorporation? I don't know what it was ( Maybe the darkside remark ) But my instinct says BS
Sites look nothing alike, where is the confusion coming from exactly? Simply because the word fused is used? Come on now People like you who take this crap to far sickens me. Glad I read this thread, you for one can count you'll never get my business Had the guy tried to actually somehow copy your business, design, VERY similiar names I would be 100% on your side. I don't see this as the case, and to me it looks like a company trying to pick on a smaller company.
LivingEarth, I'm not here to argue any legalities of it but we've owned FusedHost.com & a number of related domains since early 2005. Prior to that the 'Fused' brand was under control of another entity, operating since 2001. It's nothing to do with 'BS' or 'instinct', I have a legitimate offer & reasoning behind avoiding conflict. It's in his best interest as well, I just think he would succeed better with a properly branded entity that is 'separate' from any other companies out there. It's a dog-eat-dog market, crowded enough as-is & again if he doesn't separate himself away from the competitors at the get-go it'll never survive. Grim, There were never any threats or words tossed around that referred to him as a 'copy-catter' or that he was infringing on my business. I simply have a pending trademark that will in all intents in purposes cause massive problems down the road for the both of us -- I'm not attempting to bully anyone out of the market. I'm trying to avoid hassle. I'm about as peaceful as they get
So do you own FusedHosting.com? And if not, have you sent a similar email to the owner of that domain?
So exactly what do "you" mean by pending trademark... Have you actually registered it? Provide some reference as proof. Hell he has a pending trademark by its very use. The word fused existed long before your use of it. The domain may even be able to exist as a descriptive term. I think my point is that as yet the rights are yet undetermined.. Do you agree?
Pending trademark does mean that he have no rights to threaten you. keep the domain, but dont ask for money or suggest an amount. Let him do all that talking. Dont show him that you want to sell it, let him know that you want to keep it and develope it.