Rugs.com LLC, operators of the premium domain name Rugs.com, have filed an application to register the mark RUGS.COM at the USPTO.
Rugs.com sells rugs, which is awesome as visitors typing this domain find exactly what they were looking for.
The trademark application, however, lists a different type of service in relation to the mark:
Compiling and analyzing statistics for determining audience ratings of television and radio programs.
The date of first use in commerce for this mark is in 2016. Unless there was a data entry mistake, this class does seem odd; one would expect the application to reference actual rugs!
The domain name Rugs.com was registered in 1995. The company also owns Rugs.co.
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.
