MaxMind trademark trolling – they own “geoip”?

https://imgur.com/PdJyosv

by mitak • 8 years ago

16 17 8 years ago

imgur.com

rajacombinator• 8 years ago

Seems pretty legit to me, ie. not simply “trolling” ... (IANAL)

cheald2• 8 years ago

http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=tm&qt=sno&reel...

Not trolling. That's their IP. I wouldn't fight that fight.

mitak4• 8 years ago

Ah I see :(

Doesn't everyone say "geoip" though? / how else would we describe such a service? I thought there was something against trademarking commonly used words that describe generic things.

No plans to fight it. But it seems brutal... considering geoip.app is free/open-source/non-commercial, links to their site for those interested in licensing more accurate data, and "geoip" seems to be in use elsewhere (e.g. geoip.com).

p49k• 8 years ago

how else would we describe such a service?

IP-based Geolocation? There are multiple portmanteaus that can be made from the phrase; you could use one of those instead of using the one they made.

cheald2• 8 years ago

Everyone says "Google" to mean "do an internet search". It's still a registered trademark and you can't promote your own product using that name.

The term "IP address geolocation" is common and descriptive enough, and isn't trademarked. The mark "GeoIP" is MaxMind's trademark for their particular IP geolocation service, and isn't something you can use just because you're familiar with the term, regardless of if the application is free/open source/whatever.

While you likely mean well, MaxMind has a legal and practical obligation to defend their mark, which means issuing C&Ds for people who are using it without a license to do so.

floatingatoll3• 8 years ago

If I was MaxMind, I’d also be filing an ICANN trademark claim to takeover control of that domain from you.

alam2000• 8 years ago

It takes longer time through ICANN. Ceast and desist is the cheaper and faster way.

floatingatoll3• 8 years ago

Cease and desist does not result in control of GEOIP.APP, but is absolutely useful as a stopgap while the ICANN paperwork goes through.

mitak4• 8 years ago

I wonder why they haven't done anything about geoip.com

floatingatoll3• 8 years ago

Because it was registered four years before their trademark, and thus they have no right to it:

GEOIP.COM

   Creation Date: 2000-04-07T17:58:45Z

Word Mark: GEOIP

   Registration Date: October 26, 2004

erulabs• 8 years ago

Time for pioeg.com? This is a good idea, but I believe this service is also one of the things they charge for, and they do own the rights. Sorry mate :(

Operyl• 8 years ago

Hate to say it, but I wouldn't really consider this trolling.

Malp• 8 years ago

They do in fact own the term GeoIP (http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=Ge...), so it looks like renaming and migrating to a new domain name is your best option.

piyh• 8 years ago

time to register geographicIP.app

MaxMind trademark trolling – they own “geoip”?

Related Stories