Sober Network Inc., operators of the premium domain name, Sober.com, have applied for the registration of the matching mark, SOBER.COM, at the USPTO.
The application cites July 26, 1995, as the date of first use in commerce for the mark, for the following services:
Creating an on-line community for the addiction recovering population
The domain Sober.com was registered on July 25, 1995, at a time when domain registrations were still free. However, archived pages from Archive.org indicate that between 1996 and 2002 the domain Sober.com displayed content related to computer programming and server setup challenges.
That changed in 2002, when SoberHouses.com began displaying its content on Sober.com. Most likely, the domain Sober.com was acquired by its current operators at the time.
The Sober Network company operates a network of web sites related to addiction recovery.
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.
