The registrant of Gumballs.com, a 1995 domain, has applied for the registration of the mark GUMBALLS.COM at the USPTO.
The trademark application was filed for “On-line retail store services featuring vending machines and vending machine refill supplies.”
There is no recorded sales of Gumballs.com at NameBio. Gumballs.com has an active web site selling gumballs, nuts, and other candy.
In the trademark application for GUMBALLS.COM, the applicant is claiming date of first use in commerce “at least as early” as on September 30, 1995. We can safely say that the domain name Gumballs.com has not changed hands since.
Why was GUMBALLS.COM applied for as a trademark at 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. We keep track of these applications, and so far none has been decided upon.
Will these applications become the new norm? Watch this video from NamesCon Online 2020.
