Hi guys,
I'm not very involved in domains even though I have a few. Recently this very strange situation happened to me and I want to know what possible implications this may have. I won't name the domain but I'll try to explain the timeline.
1) on day D-15 ("D minus 15") I launch a contest on Namestation.com to find a name for my new SaaS startup
2) during days D-15 to D-2 (about two weeks) I get around 200 suggestions
3) on day D-1 I reject most suggestions except two or three which I shortlist
3) on day D I select the winner (.COM domain) on Namestation and award him the price. It is a one-word name which had zero results in Google on this day, so basically an entirely new name.
4) on day D (same day) I register the .COM domain along with several ccTLDs and move on with the business.
Now a few weeks go by, I'm working on the startup and just now I discovered that:
5) on day D-1 (day before contest end) someone registered a company with the exactly the same name as my domain. It is a British Private limited Company owned by some four Indians
6) on day D+1 (day after contest end) probably the same guys registered a .co.uk domain and they launched some weird Shopify site which looks like a fake store selling random various stuff
7) on day D+20 someone applied for a trademark (Class 9, Class 35:
Advertising; marketing; provision of business information via a website; retail services connected with the sale of computer software, application software, computer hardware, computer peripherals, monitors, keyboards, computer mice, modems, hard drives, computer memory hardware, parts and fittings for all the aforesaid goods; business assistance; information, consultancy and advisory services relating to all the aforesaid services., Class 42) with this name in the United Kingdom
8) on day D+35 the trademark was approved
9) someone also took the Reddit handle
What does this all mean? Is this some trademark troll or just some retarded person doing this for fun?
I'm not based in UK so I don't really know how much it costs to register a trademark there and why would someone do that.
What could happen if my startup becomes huge and they will claim they had some shitty fake store before me?
I haven't launched yet but I don't want to rename because I really really like the original name.¨Also I hate lawyers and dealing with bullshit so I'm really disappointed someone is doing this.
I'm not very involved in domains even though I have a few. Recently this very strange situation happened to me and I want to know what possible implications this may have. I won't name the domain but I'll try to explain the timeline.
1) on day D-15 ("D minus 15") I launch a contest on Namestation.com to find a name for my new SaaS startup
2) during days D-15 to D-2 (about two weeks) I get around 200 suggestions
3) on day D-1 I reject most suggestions except two or three which I shortlist
3) on day D I select the winner (.COM domain) on Namestation and award him the price. It is a one-word name which had zero results in Google on this day, so basically an entirely new name.
4) on day D (same day) I register the .COM domain along with several ccTLDs and move on with the business.
Now a few weeks go by, I'm working on the startup and just now I discovered that:
5) on day D-1 (day before contest end) someone registered a company with the exactly the same name as my domain. It is a British Private limited Company owned by some four Indians
6) on day D+1 (day after contest end) probably the same guys registered a .co.uk domain and they launched some weird Shopify site which looks like a fake store selling random various stuff
7) on day D+20 someone applied for a trademark (Class 9, Class 35:
Advertising; marketing; provision of business information via a website; retail services connected with the sale of computer software, application software, computer hardware, computer peripherals, monitors, keyboards, computer mice, modems, hard drives, computer memory hardware, parts and fittings for all the aforesaid goods; business assistance; information, consultancy and advisory services relating to all the aforesaid services., Class 42) with this name in the United Kingdom
8) on day D+35 the trademark was approved
9) someone also took the Reddit handle
What does this all mean? Is this some trademark troll or just some retarded person doing this for fun?
I'm not based in UK so I don't really know how much it costs to register a trademark there and why would someone do that.
What could happen if my startup becomes huge and they will claim they had some shitty fake store before me?
I haven't launched yet but I don't want to rename because I really really like the original name.¨Also I hate lawyers and dealing with bullshit so I'm really disappointed someone is doing this.