Company going after .bank and .secure domain names gets a (weak) trademark.
A company hoping to offer .bank and .secure domain names has managed to get a trademark for .secure from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office — albeit on the supplement register.
How did it do this, since the USPTO won’t grant trademarks on top level domains?
First, Asif LLC didn’t tell the USPTO the trademark was for a top level domain name. Instead, it says it’s for “Domain name registration services”.
Second, it submitted proof of use in commerce that was nothing more than a Go Daddy/Wild West Domains reseller page.
The company has also applied for a trademark for .bank using the same field of use and a GoDaddy reseller web site as proof of us. It is still pending.
The .secure registration number is 4068800.
[update: as Karen Bernstein points out, VeriSign filed to potentially oppose the application, but filed at the incorrect time. I don’t see an opposition to .bank.]
“Company Manages to Get .secure Trademark – Domain Name Wire.” Domain Name Wire. Domain Name Wire, 12 Dec. 2011. <http://domainnamewire.com/2011/12/12/dot-secure-trademark/>.
