By BDespain on

On my way to Drupal.org I accidentally typed in drupal.com. I noticed that someone is typosquatting on the domain offering to sell it for $28,000. This is a pretty serious violation of trademark. Is someone working to get Drupal properly registered with the USPTO? Having done this sort of work, I would like to through my hat in the ring to get it done. Just wondering if someone is already doing this. BTW you don't need a non-profit foundation to get it done. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus.

BSD

Comments

boris mann’s picture

boris mann commented

Thanks for looking at this, Brian. We had our first organizing meeting for moving towards having a Drupal foundation just yesterday, but this is a direction we want to go.

Having this registered to Dries might be a good short term solution. We'll get in touch.

su8lime’s picture

su8lime commented

Is it ok to use domains that contain the drupal word in them to provide drupal related services?

such as DrupalWorld.com or WorldofDrupal.net ?? or something similar?

Just wondering...

su8lime’s picture

su8lime commented

Is there anyone that can give an answer to this question?

Daniel Hall
www.hyperpod.com

eldarin’s picture

eldarin commented

In "the spirit" of GPL, there doesn't seem to be any direct problems. "Drupal" could be trademarked however, and get a different license.

However, there are a lot of linuxdevices, linuxjournal, linuxtoday etc., so you probably will never get into trouble - unless you try and call something "Drupal" only, just like with "Linux".

sepeck’s picture

sepeck commented

avoid any potential issues.

-sp
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain

-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide

sami_k’s picture

sami_k commented

The courts have ruled in the US on this issue and found that domain names do not necessarily infringe on trademarks as long as you do not actually violate the trademark on the website. You should consult stanford law for a more legal explanation/opinion... but this is the best I know of it to my knowledge. To get Drupal.com back it's going to cost at a minimum something like 1500USD.

--
Please read the handbook, search the forums, then ask...
http://drupal.etopian.net (Modules and Drupal Services)

sami_k’s picture

sami_k commented

Also, by the way, as far as I know Drupal is not trademarked as of yet.. Am I wrong?
--
Please read the handbook, search the forums, then ask...
http://drupal.etopian.net (Modules and Drupal Services)

nsk’s picture

nsk commented

In USA one doesn't need to register with USPTO to have an unregistered trade mark, but IANAL, TINLA.

Even if something is not trade marked, it's always a brand name that identifies a particular community or person.

--
NSK, Founder of the Wikinerds Community. See my Drupal site, the Wikinerds Portal.

nsk’s picture

nsk commented

Yes, of course this is an obvious trade mark violation and should be discouraged. Better ask Dries though.

--
NSK, Founder of the Wikinerds Community. See my Drupal site.

stevanlieberman’s picture

stevanlieberman commented

Drupal is currently a common
law trademark since Drupal is using both as its common name and as the name
of its trademark. The use of a mark before the general public provides right
to the name. However, it would be adviseable for Drupal to file for a registered
mark. By registering the mark it will be a lot easier obtaining the drupal.com
domain and if any one else uses the mark they will automatically be in notice
of drupal's mark as well as other positive uses. If you guys need help with
this stuff just ask.

Stevan Lieberman

stevan@aplegal.com