Morning Folks!!
So this morning after my blog post I clicked on an ad at domaining.com. As a domainer we have all learned what constitutes a trademark and what does not. Today I want to show you an outrageous use of MY personal trademark! What if I told you a registrar is using my 'Domain King' name to help promote and grow their business and sell domain names without MY permission or knowledge?
Well that is EXACTLY what is happening if you look at the lower left hand corner of the website of onlydomains.com. Using ME and MY name to make sales. That is absolute BULLSHIT and in a small industry like this to do it, takes CHUTZPAH! How many domains and accounts did they get trading on MY NAME??!!
So here is a PUBLIC CEASE and DESIST! You have been PROFITING from MY name for MONTHS and TODAY it stops! Are they going to claim they didn't know?? They profited off of my good and high profile name and so this is the start not the end! Shameful in an industry as small as ours.
OnlyDomains.com aka Instra.com, the ONLY thing you have is a MAJOR problem! Using my trademarked name to trick people into believing I endorse or own or otherwise involved in a company I never heard of in this tiny industry is OUTRAGEOUS and so far over the line I am speechless.
And let me be clear, it is not about my trademark. It is about common decency. Could you imagine Fabulous.com or any other reputatble company in the domain industry doing that? Of course not!! So please don't tell me how 'Far away' they are. It is just below the belt bullshit that should not be tolerated or defended by anybody. PERIOD!
Rick Schwartz
'Some People tell me I have a short temper. I prefer to call it a swift and assertive reaction to BULLSHIT'
Typed Drawing
| Word Mark | DOMAIN KING |
| Goods and Services | IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: LICENSING OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, NAMELY, DOMAIN NAMES; AND WEB SITE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES. FIRST USE: 19960731. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19960731 |
| Mark Drawing Code | (1) TYPED DRAWING |
| Serial Number | 76262003 |
| Filing Date | May 24, 2001 |
| Current Basis | 1A |
| Original Filing Basis | 1A |
| Published for Opposition | July 22, 2003 |
| Registration Number | 2773011 |
| Registration Date | October 14, 2003 |
| Owner | (REGISTRANT) Virtual Dates, Inc. CORPORATION FLORIDA P.O. Box 810276 Boca Raton FLORIDA 334810276 |
| Attorney of Record | Karen J. Bernstein |
| Disclaimer | NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE 'DOMAIN' APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN |
| Type of Mark | SERVICE MARK |
| Register | PRINCIPAL |
| Affidavit Text | SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). |
| Live/Dead Indicator | LIVE |
UPDATE: At 5:35PM EDT they agreed to remove the reference but still waiting 2+ hours later.
UPDATE: The reference to 'Domain King' has been removed.
Acro
Good catch, Rick, that should be a quick one to resolve. After all, that”king” is simply a frog. :-)
BullS
How can Domain King a frog and not a lion?
I’ll be piss too
AHEAD OF TIME
Wonder what happens if you kiss this frog?
Looks like to frog Is going to be back in the pond soon :)
Rick Schwartz
This Lion is going to eat that Frog for Breakfast!
AHEAD OF TIME
Typo this frog
IMultiscreen
Karen Bernstein seems nice and is a refreshing personality in this mostly-male dominated business – hope you can resolve things with her! I only know you informally as Domain King – did you trademark the expression? Maybe it is a little sly humor on her part that is easily resolved?
andy kelly
Well looks like you snared them…
lol maybe they will buy my domain Chutzpah.net seeing as they have a hell of a nerve!
Rick Schwartz
Karen is not the opposition. She was my Trademark Lawyer with Domain King. So she is not involved with this from that aspect. I own the trademark.
savio dsilva
Hi Rick,
Do you also own the rights to DOMAIN QUEEN?
Just checking!
I don’t want you or another domain registrar/investor out there to tell guys like me what we can or cannot use in our content or advertisements.
IMultiscreen
Thanx for the clarification.
Sandra
I don’t think they are aware of you, they are just a small registrar in New Zealand.
I have posted to their Twitter account, let’s see if they answer.
Rick Schwartz
Not that small and using my name to get bigger.
They are advertising on domaining.com and other domain blogs.
Donny
Of course they know. So do all of the other companies have registered .org,.info in his this name of domainking, the smart thing to do is take down and apologize to the trademark owner for any misunderstanding.
They will take down I guaranty that. They don’t bad publicity.
Donny
Guy
everyone has heard of you Rick in domain industry and of course being the domain king.
maybe you should tell them about the lese majeste rule in Thailand and what happens if you break it.
tell them you have it in Florida too, it’s more laid back, but you still send round Big Ron to break their legs
lol
The Other Adam
What about the NameKing.com registrar that Oversee started ?
2cents. hat’s pretty confusingly similar to your mark too
Rick Schwartz
I don’t think there is confusion there Adam.
What is happening here is a blatant attempt to capitalize on my name, my mark and my hard work and is done commercially to profit from. If I had a mark on”Domain Name King” then there might be some overlap. So I don’t see any problems and I don’t go out of my way to find them.
John
USPTO & other TM search sites 101
Check terms before using …
steve
Sounds like someone needs the help of T.U.R.D.
JamesD
Wait til the Megaupload guy’s finished with the FBI – he’s going to come after all of us for cashing in on his name! ;-)
Jeff Ball
Hey Rick, your TM is registered only in the USA, so what claim do you have over a website that appears to be in Australia or NZ? Also, your TM registration only covers”LICENSING OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, NAMELY, DOMAIN NAMES; AND WEB SITE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES” and not domain name registration services. Sounds to me that you are like Apple, trying to prevent the local grocer from selling apples.
Rick Schwartz
Jeff, regardless of any trademark whatsoever, what is being done here is trickery in a small industry. Just like the USA flag in the upper right hand corner and saying”Your American Domain Provider” which again is trickery and misleading.
If the company took that stance, they would deal with fallout not even I am sure what and how powerful it would be. Shall I assume your identity and do as I wish if I can benefit from it?
My comments so far are very measured but my patience with them is not! I got an email 2 hours ago saying they would remove. But it is still up and there are other issues.
Rick Schwartz
Let me say I am not going to split hairs on what is an obvious attempt to MISLEAD and sell domains under false pretenses using MY NAME and Goodwill. PERIOD! They PROFITED by misleading people with my moniker! DISGUSTING!
Nobody LEGIT should defend that SHIT! If it is your friends….TOUGH! They should know better. When you get CAUGHT doing something WRONG in an industry this small, be prepared for MAJOR FALLOUT!
Rick Schwartz
ok, the graphic is gone so now we can deal with the REAL ISSUE!
James
Where is your trademark for Rick? Do you have a Global trademark or just regional?
Rick Schwartz
It is interesting when the 2 defenders here of the indefensible both have never commented here before. Go tell your friend to answer my last emails as my patience is running out.
These Folks Know me. Know my reputation and used it to PURPOSELY trade commercially off of it and that is TOTAL BULLSHIT! It is about to go down hill very fast. When is this industry going to raise its standards and stop this CRAP?? Stop protecting friends that do WRONG! Makes you as guilty as them in my book!
Alexman
Let me play you a tune in this clearly stressful time… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1orMXD_Ijbs
Acro
Refreshing the cache, it now says”Bargain Domains” – but the crown on the frog is there, so the combination was definitely intentional.
Franko
They should have changed the speech bubble to read”Chutzpah King!”. :P
Jeph smythe
Personally I dont think people see the domain king frog and think of you… Atleast the frog wasn’t saying”Home of Rick Shwartz”, now that would be egregius. Did you trademark your name too or just DomainKing?
Lucas
As a reader of domain blogs this company/adverts actually called my attention because I thought they had something to do with you Rick… and putting the frog as”the king”, made me wonder even more… Now without the”Domain King” message they don’t look interesting and special anymore to me. If many others think like me, then clearly they were gaining value from pretending to have something to do with you.
Now the frog at the bottom says”bargain domains” (that’s the name of a service the same owner of domaining.com started one or two years ago… maybe an indication of how aware they are of all in the domaining world)
Note: In Europe it says”your European domain provider”
Bill Roberts
GOOD 4 U! SHAME ON THEM! GET EM.
Rick Schwartz
My issue is that they PURPOSELY profited off of my good name and good will let alone the trademark.
Purposely, knowingly and I can prove it.
I already have testimony from people that thought they were doing business with ME! These guys are not worthy of my trust at this point because they can’t be candid and just level with me!
Knowingly, willingly and for profit! That’s it in a nutshell for me.
ANYONE that opened up an account there or even considered it thinking they were doing business with ME, please email or post. Thanks!
I am satisfied that there will be no confusion from this point forward as the reference to”Domain King” has been removed. So I appreciate that! I don’t think they are bad people, I think they did something bad, got caught and then compounded it. After all these years you folks know I have an allergic reaction to bullshit. I can handle any reality. I just can’t handle bullshit.
John McBride
Rick, I think it was a blessing you brought it to Onlydomains.com attention.
who would want to be associated to the Scum of the Industry = DomainKing = Rick Schwartz
Rick you think you are powerful – but you are a looser, and the industry knows it…. Go Fuck Yourself
Sideliner
Rick, your a standup guy to publish even the negative and derogative comments like John McBride’s above. Just goes to show your character. I would like to see what Mr. McBride has achieved in this or any industry. He just paints himself to be another jealous idiot!
Gypsum Fantastic
I can’t believe that they inferred that you were an old croak! :-)
Alan Day
I would watch these guys Rick.
If this is Instra.com, then these guys dont mess around.
They are bigger than you, and global, not American.
Sorry, your trademark does not apply anywhere else but the US.
Francois
What!?”Bargain domains” now?
Then now they are infringing my own BargainDomains.com trademark!
They really don’t respect anyone.
Remove this frog asap and paste an”I love Domaining”, these are the only excuses I will accept ;-)
KD
They still have not fixed the image in the footer.
Tony
Did the USA recently annex New Zealand?
Anunt
Calm the fuck down Rick…you’re gonna have a fucking heart attack…
Stop worrying so much about the small bullshit pocket change that they are probably making of this scam…
Yes, what they did was wrong…but don’t make such a big deal out of this!
Relax…it’s going to be okay!!!
No need to rip a new asshole on such a small issue that can be resolved so easily.
HenrytheSecond
Give me a break Rick, You call yourself the self proclaimed DOMAIN KING but we all know Frank Schilling is the real DOMAIN KING! So what you trademarked the name for 150 bucks!! Get a life!!
Troy
The real problem Rick is having an ego as big as yours in an industry as small as domaining. It’s like if Don King made sandwiches at Subway. His ego is supported when it’s evenly divided across millions of people throughout the world, but if he worked at Subway people would eventually want to stick him in the bun roaster.
Take a deep breath and look at the beauty in the world.
Now contribute to it.
Show us the money..
Rick, I know how you feel, after being ripped off continually you’ll chill more and not get heated up about such things. Most people don’t understand IP and they just do it inadvertantly.
Funny thing, I noticed the (R) sign on your header for the first time and then I see this article. Yes, your attorney is right, you need to make sure your claim is shown in public and generally in Capitals where possible.
No sure if you’d get a registered Trademark in the UK as its too generic, but if you do the Community mark it would sail through and protect the UK etc…. but there can only be so much value in the name though.
Rick Schwartz
It’s over. It’s fixed.
But there was a backstory on this that I never made public and won’t.
So I had good grounds to be upset when I found what I found.
I think if you folks knew that part or parts of the equation I left out, then you would be much more understanding of my reaction. This may be a big world, but it is a tiny industry. I take people for their word. I help people unknown to me when I can. Sometimes when you help folks they take advantage.
Alan Day
There is no back story Rick, you know yourself – I bet you dont have the guts to expose, because your full of shit
Rick Schwartz
So after 5 years here your first 2 comments here are on this subject.
Got some skin in the game jerkoff? Of course you do!
You don’t know shit! I know when I get lied to, mislead and taken advantage of.
Are you protecting the little prick I am talking about??
I also know what a jerkoff with an agenda looks likes. YOU!
Rick Schwartz
Gee, 3 guys posting from what seems to be ONE BATHROOM down under.
What a bunch of rookies.
I think it is time to work on the second blog post about this.
I’ll name it”The Little Prick That Lied to Me”
I think some heads are going to role inside this company.
Cuz either the higher ups know nothing of the SHIT that has gone on below them (and I am beginning to think that might be the case) or they are up to their ears in it?? I think THEY need to have an internal investigation before I get back to my computer in Fort Lauderdale and start to pull up the NAME of this lying little prick and hang him out to dry myself.
Then of course his”friends” will get upset, excuse his lies and turn the tables on me because I outed him instead of having the honor to stand up and say somebody did something wrong.
Then the little prick will come lashing out. Reminds me of an incident a year or two ago. I saw this movie before.
Rick Schwartz
I do have one question that may shed some light on this and whether the CEO himself has been mislead by the SAME LITTLE PRICK. My question for anyone that might know, Was OnlyDomains.com acquired by Instra.com or homegrown? The answer would fill in a missing piece of the puzzle for me and a motive.
Who’s”Baby” is OnlyDomains.com? Who runs that sector for Instra and are they an outfit that was acquired in 2011?
no one
I stand by ricks comment, he has helped me in a huge way and learned a lot. People so easy to judge and talk smack. Rick is probably one of the most humble people around in person and was probably one of the memorable experiences I had in the domain industry. The valuable information on his blog, his insight and meeting Rick in person is amazing.
Next time we meet rick, drinks on me and thanks for being the king in the industry. Thats what leaders do! Simple as that.
nobody
Onlydomains.com and Instra.com have the same founder and owner. They also run europeregistry.com, asiaregistry.com and many other sites.
Stephen Douglas
No matter how excited Rick is about someone stealing or using his trademarked name DOMAIN KING for their own purposes, he is EXACTLY correct for quickly and publicly pointing it out.
Rick and I don’t agree on a lot of stuff, but I will stand up for his right to use his common mark of Domain King.
BTW: If you have a US TM, it extends internationally by default, unless someone can prove an earlier TM from a different country. This is standard, from what I know. I’m no atty, but I have run US TM’s before and beat foreign attempts to use it, even though the TM wasn’t”officially” established in Malaysia.
Good luck with this Rick. You deserve your moniker TM without having to waste precious time defending it. (This says something about this company”Instra” and their experience in the domain industry — they’re so naive they use Rick’s TM name to promote themselves. That should already be a company killer move.)
Rick Schwartz
“Rick and I don’t agree on a lot of stuff, but I will stand up for his right to use his common mark of Domain King.”
Well Thank You Stephen! Coming from you that means a lot to me.
I would think on an issue such as this we could all be shoulder to shoulder.
So thank you for showing how it can and should be done.