Broadcast Music, Inc., operators of the aged, premium LLL .com domain name BMI.com, have filed for the registration of the matching trademark, BMI.COM, at the USPTO.
The application cites September 18, 1994, as the date of first use of the mark. The application involves the following services:
Collecting license fees on behalf of independent writers and publishers and making payments to the copyright owners of the music; Holding company services performed for third parties, namely, investment management; Providing scholarships for musicians, dancers, artists, and scientists
Among other functions, BMI collects music licensing fees on behalf of copyright holders worldwide and the acronym is unrelated to “body mass index.”
Applying for the registration of matching marks is 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.
