The operators of the super-aged domain Prodigy.com, have applied for the registration of the matching trademark, PRODIGY.COM.
Registered in 1992 as one of the first few commercial domains, Prodigy.com changed hands in 2020. Media Options was the broker of the domain name; no other details were made public.
The trademark was applied with a date of first use being April 1, 2020, which is a bit confusing as the domain was still in the possession of AT&T at the time. The mark’s claimed for “Statistical evaluations of marketing data.”
It seems that Prodigy.com is changing its focus to encompass its venture PAGProdigy as “Prodigy” per this press release from March 27, 2022:
PostAds Group, the privately held parent company of Prodigy, has consolidated its production consultancy and data platform business units into a single entity to be known as Prodigy. PostAds Group will focus on incubating and delivering new MarTech solutions using AI technology, machine learning and innovative workflow models to unleash the power of data.
Why was the domain name Prodigy.com applied for as a trademark with the USPTO?
It’s an ongoing trend among owners of generic domain names, following the decision by SCOTUS on the Booking.com trademark application.
Since then, dozens of generic domain names have been applied to be registered as trademarks, inclusive of the TLD.
As of January 5th, 2021, BOOKING.COM is a registered trademark with the USPTO.
Will these applications become the new norm? Watch this video from NamesCon Online 2020.
Nostalgia… Coming from a blip on the map, I remember having 56k internet with Prodigy in the mid/late 90s. However, my physical line could only handle 28k (first-world problems). While waiting for DSL to come to town, I “upgraded” to satellite internet which turned out to have a horrible ping, wanting oh so much to get back on the, then, 56k capable lines so I could play first-person shooters again, but we were locked into a contract with a hefty cancellation fee… It just so happened that we were eligible for DSL the same month that our satellite internet contract was up and I finally had suitable internet (for the time)!