Trademark Confusion

[Larry]

I received a call this morning from a company that said they had a trademark on a recent domain reg of mine.

They were not interested in getting the name from me, just wanted me to know about the trademark just in case I had any plans to use the name for loans in any way.

I tried looking up a trademark on the name but found nothing. (and oddly enough this was one of the few searches on Google that returns nothing).

Can somebody shed a little light on this issue for me? I realize thats a broad request but if I knew more about this issue I;d narrow down the scope of the question.

thanks,

larry

 

[CoolHost.com]

"I received a call this morning from a company that said they had a trademark on a recent domain reg of mine."

"I realize thats a broad request but if I knew more about this issue I;d narrow down the scope of the question."

Seems to me that in order to provide you with information or advice, the experts here will need some more details ... such as, what is the domain name?? The exact wording of the phone conversation?!
Have you searched the TM at: http://www.uspto.gov ??
Good Luck.

PS. And I ain't no lawyer

 

[Larry]

I did search for the trademark and found none. I'm not sure why the domain name would be important to know but it is intelliloan.com

the conversation went as I explained above. I left my maxwell smart telephone recorder in my other coat so I wasn't able to tape the conversation.

anybody?

 

[William9]

While I am not a lawyer, but consider that there is NO trademark issue – the call was the Scare then Offer method of negotiations. Let me explain.

Within one week, the same individual could contact you with a low offer for the domain “blah… since it is our trademark, we feel the one time offer of $100 is more than generous – which you have one hour to accept or we could refer this to our team of lawyers”.

Sure they could have an irrelevant trademark in a country that I did not check, however, even if they did, what was the purpose of the first call?

Consider that the call was really from a BUYER with two methods of approaching you:

The first was calling and saying “Congratulations, you have a domain [drop?] that we really need to purchase. Please consider selling it. Thank you ever so much – will currency be ok? Please call me on my cell phone while I am at the bank so I know how much currency I need to drop off with you.”

The second method of approaching could have been the Scare then Offer.

I hope you are in really in the driver’s seat,

Good luck

 

[HOWARD]

If you have found no trademark in the USPTO and have no personal knowledge of anyone else using the term "intelliloan", then you have no reason to worry about it. It would seem to lend itself to a good web site on funding various types of loans and may be good for an affiliate program as well.

 

[namedropper]

Well, not finding a mark in the USPTO isn't a complete defense, as someone could have a common law trademark on it by having used it in business. As it has no hits at all in Google I doubt anyone could successfully claim they had really been using the name already.

I find it hilarious that the guy claims to have a trademark and then gives you a friendly warning to not use it related to loans... WTF, the name has loan in it, what else would you use it for?

Ignore the loser completely, whether he offers to buy or just waits for you to drop it so he can get it.

--
Dan Norder - Savanna.com, FineGold.com, etc.
High profile and niche domain names for sale

 

[FineE]

I did find a hit on Google for "intelli loan". Note I broke it into two words and used quotes. I suggest the following course of action.

1) Vist the site in question. You can find it by doing the google search. I am not posting a link here.

2) Carefully examine the use of the term on the site. Look for details

3) Get a legal opinion privately, if you consider it appropiate.

P.S. There is so much bluff in the this TM business it ain't funny.