Tuesdays are days for introspection and forward thinking. An incident involving Kiwi registrar, OnlyDomains, produced an “100x fold” wrath by Domain King ™ Rick Schwartz.
By using the image of a frog king, full with crown and a balloon that said “Domain King ™”, the registrar allegedly confused several parties, who believed this was endorsed by Rick Schwartz.
OnlyDomains removed the “Domain King ™” reference, but the frog still bears a crown.
Was Rick’s reaction justified, particularly since he does have a registered trademark for “Domain King ™“?
Your opinion counts!
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Hi DG,
I really find this all quite amusing. I genuinely feel that RICK is a bit stressed out right now and today’s post on his blog (chaning his tune on gTLDs) makes me seriously wonder whether he is anywhere close to being a domain king.
Perhaps a break and a visit to an experienced shrink will help.
Savio – Personally, I think that whether one likes Rick’s reaction or not, the trademark exists and the chances for confusion were there as well. And when one does not protect their mark, they risk its dilution and subsequent cancellation.
It was an honest mistake which they made which should have been dealt with much more gently.
I love the fact that you and your gang pick up the pulse of domainers so quickly.
I am certain my comments on Rick’s reaction won’t be received well by most but at least I am experienced and certified to make it.
And, to be honest the domaining world needs to be more open as far as communication is concerned.
Savio – I find it to be a deliberate mistake; obviously, everyone’s opinion is respected. 😀
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Be nice first.
If that doesn’t work, then it would be time to get out the knives.
Perhaps he already did that; it’s difficult know what has already happened behind the scenes.
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Ms Domainer – Sometimes brute force is necessary. Although, I’m sure, Father Domainicus would oppose violence 😉
I think if the frog was a donkey it would be trademark infringement. LOL
Todd – All kidding aside, Rick owns ass.com you know 😉
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 when I hear defenders saying how “Far away” they are or other nonsense it shows a complete disregard for common sense. It is just below the belt bullshit that should not be tolerated or defended by anybody. PERIOD! I also have VERY STRONG reason to believe it was NOT an “Honest mistake”. Had that been the case I would have simply asked them to remove. So then it becomes an ON PURPOSE!
Hi Rick,
I feel that you are missing the point here (and even everywhere else).
Don’t you have any decency to contact them by email first and ask them to remove the trademarked symbols.
And, if you so strongly believed that they were using your trademarked name on purpose then why on earth have you not taken any legal action against them yet.
I am pretty certain that people like you won’t let such opportunities go by. After all, you took the time to register the domain name RomneyRice.com.
What else can I say.