News out this morning here in Europe is that Apple just paid $60 Million dollars to settle the claim of a Chinese company over a trademark for the term iPad.
Yes Apple bought the Trademark rights from a Taiwanese company, but a Chinese company claimed the rights purchased did not include mainland China.
So Apple just paid $60 Million to settle a trademark dispute really for only mainland China.
Now tell me how expensive domain names are.
Go ahead.
Tell me how crazy it was for Facebook to shell out $4.5 Million for FB.com or how insane it was for the owners of meetme.com to spend $450K to buy meet.me
What will be the market’s reaction to this “crazy” amount of money being spent to secure a piece of intellectual property, of which domain names broadly fall into the category of?
Of course it depends on the market in general to some extent and since its 5 am here in Europe as I write this, the market hasn’t opened for pre-trading but I think the news will be viewed very positively.
Domain names by any measure are still way under priced compared to other similar intellectual property like Trademark and Patents.
Just a reminder
It’s unfortunate that Apple just couldn’t do some form of ‘UDRP’ type of action to attempt to steal the trademark, since $60 million could be considered way too expensive. Slimy stuff like that is reserved only for domain names with a comparatively paltry potential worth of 6 to low-7 figures, I guess.
the most interesting thing of this story is that ProView has produced an all-in-one computer with the same design of the iMac, but years BEFORE than when Jobs “invented” the iMac …
If you research how Apple acquired the trademark in the first place it was pretty slimy to begin with. They basically set up a bogus company”IP Application Development Ltd (IPAD)” to conduct negotiations with Proview over the trademark back in 2009.” If I recall right, FB did something similar thing while negotiating for a certain domain. You never know who is behind sales inquiries, it’s worth holding out for your price when you can.
“In its filing, Proview alleged lawyers for Application Development Ltd, IPAD (Apple) repeatedly said it would not be competing with the Chinese firm, and refused to say why they needed the trademark.
Those representations were made “with the intent to defraud and induce the plaintiffs to enter into the agreement,” Proview said in the filing dated February 17, requesting an unspecified amount of damages.”
Its ironic that Apple is paying $60m to use the TM in China, the home of fake Apple products.
@Space Ideas
Not true.
The iMac came out in May 1998. Proview’s ‘iPad’ (Internet Personal Access Device) wasn’t released until 2000. It was one of many iMac clones being produced, that copied the iMac’s design.
Proview’s machine sold a whopping 20,000 over a decade, before they collapsed in 2010. There’s a reason they needed Apple’s money.
Dean, that’s business as usual. Remember when Disney went in under bogus company names to buy up lots of land in Florida for DisneyWorld?
Of course if they would have gone in saying they were Disney, they couldn’t have afforded to pay what people would try to get from them. So nothing really new there.
iWallet is a great name on the wrong com (+TM) product, what’s Mandarin for iWallet, the reference frame is established.
Would it not make sense for Apple to settle something like this out of the “courts” under a non-disclosure?
@ MHB
“What will be the market’s reaction to this “crazy” amount of money being spent to secure a piece of intellectual property, of which domain names broadly fall into the category of?
Of course it depends on the market in general to some extent and since its 5 am here in Europe as I write this, the market hasn’t opened for pre-trading but I think the news will be viewed very positively.
Domain names by any measure are still way under priced compared to other similar intellectual property like Trademark and Patents.
Just a reminder”
Right on the MONEY ! Virtual Business Foundations are strategic assets of unparalleled Value.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Hello MHB
This Post may be the most important Post in our Industry in a long time, CONGRATS!
We are not trying to crush other extensions outside the All Important .COM extension , to the contrary we are trying to lead people into making real meaningful investments in The Secondary Market where the real Diamond Vein lives, whose Fondation is the .Com Channel.
If you want diamonds you have to pay up for them. All other extensions are like Penny Stocks and are Really Long Shots.
If you want diamonds, you don’t look for them in Copper Mines.
Learn the ropes Of the Secondary Market,it will fuel your Booty.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
@ MHB
Who said that domain names were too expensive.
A domain name is worth what the buyer is willing to pay for it, if you are lucky enough to own a domain name that is free from any risks associated with trademarks or that can be defended successfully in a UDRP then the sky is the limit as to what you can ask for it, but whether you get what you want for it or not depends on how badly the buyer needs that domain and how deep of a pocket they have. This is one of the basic principals of free markets which domainers have enjoyed and benefited from greatly in the past 15 years, but it can also work against domainers when the new GTLDs come around and give buyers more choices. (just my opinion)
–
FB.com was $8.5 million, not $4.5 million (typo in article).
That is the most important point, the only point that matters really, when it comes to future valuations of the very top .coms.
What is interesting about Apple China Ipad thing is that one can make a good arguments that Apple should have just called Ipad ApplePad in China and saved itself $60M. The value Apple got out of Ipad name in China is way less IMO than what a large internet business gets out a perfect short .com.
“Who said that domain names were too expensive.”
I will tell you who –
I cannot be the only one who is being contacted about our .com’s losing value because of the new non.com’s coming out (.shop, .realestate, .whatever) – and we better sell when we can.
My response is “then why do you want a domain that is losing value” quiet on the phone or no email reply follows…
There is a difference between overvaluing a piece of real estate and knowing where the market is being pushed as a result of all these new non.coms being introduced with virtually no secondary market.
^^ to add to what Brian said. there will only be a handful of top tier gtld domains selling for big bucks, the rest will be reg fee. my.insurance will sell, but bobs.insurance is a zer0. with the sheer amount of developed .coms and cctlds it aint worth a damn thing, because even if google starts giving away crap for free, crap will always be crap. my.web is only one domain, only one owner can have it
“new non.coms being introduced with virtually no secondary market.”
@ BrianWick
The problem is that we don’t know that for sure at this time, any smart domainer would probably adjust their strategy so that they can meet the challenges that the new gTLDs might produce, as we have seen a lot of the veteran domainers have gotten into the New gTLD game already so that they can control their risks better by diversifying. Off course they could have spent their millions to buy all the premium .coms that are currently available on the market, but they chose to invest in the new gTLDs instead.
–
^^ so basically all this GLTLD battle is to auction off top tier names and run at a .jobs, .travel pace
^^oh, and to entice xxxxgtld.com domain owners into the ‘brand protection’ scam to get their xxxx.gtld
ojohn –
overengineering vs. reality is a characteristic of new domain investors
“Apple just paid $60 Million to settle a trademark dispute really for only mainland China”
Doing Business in .CHINA is Different
There is a lot more to the story. There is also a lot going on in the “domain name industry” that domainers do not have access to. As one example, what DNS is used during the BOOT of motherboards that will be shipped from China next year 🙂 Careful, it is a trick question because DHCP has not supplied the motherboard with an IP Address at boot. How does DNS work ? Does DNS require IP ? UDP ? TCP ?
See the Blog in Chinese ? CHINA.TheDomains.COM
“so basically all this GLTLD battle is to auction off top tier names and run at a .jobs, .travel pace”
@ Domainer
It’s hard to say with any certainty as to who is going to come ahead, but it will probably be one of these scenarios.
– .com remains king and the new gTLDs will struggle to survive
– New gTLDs will become successful and produce a real challenge to .com’s market share, but .com will remain the first choice for the majority of people and businesses.
– A few of the new gTLDs will overtake .com and will end its reign.
– With so many choices people will become hesitant to pay more than registration fee for any domain causing the domain aftermarket to collapse which means that both .com and the New gTLDs will suffer.
(just my opinion)
–
As a Realist – all the “new gTLDs” are Really all the “new non.com’s”
Kind of like the term “socially challenged youth with club affiliation” is Really just “Gang Members”
Meaning politically correct has infiltrated the Internet domain space.
Domainer – I like it – a battle (of new non.com’s) to for the right to “run at a .jobs, .travel pace” – snail pace.
All the dough to be made is at the registry level selling these new non.coms to end users – not in the secondary market – i.e. the party is over before it even starts. But It won’t stop the 1 in a 1000 resale of a non.com for a premium being dpocumented as if it was a 1 in 2 sale and therefore drawing thousands of more suckers, max credit cards, bankruptcies and refied houses – no different than .mobi dick, .tv and the rest.
@ ojohn,
“This is one of the basic principals of free markets which domainers have enjoyed and benefited from greatly in the past 15 years, but it can also work against domainers when the new GTLDs come around and give buyers more choices. (just my opinion)”
Sounds pretty good, but fundamentally flawed.
When you connect All the Dots they ultimately All lead back to the .Com Channel.
Coming out with a post on Owens Blog that will prove this.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
“All the dough to be made is at the registry level selling these new non.coms to end users”
@ BrianWick
That is true, but not for all new gTLDs, just some of them, the only people who are going to make money for sure are the backend operators that provide technical support to the gTLD registries, and ICANN.
–
Brain Wick –
It will be funny watching EVERY registrar reporting a couple of big “sales” that claim £XXX,XXX changed hands but really nothing did.
The new domains will offer some nice development potential, yes there will be leakage however I get the feeling that the people that bang on about .Com leakage are the ones that have never built a site before.
I would rather have a .Net with a site than a .Com that is parked, as my sales director from two decades ago would say “20% of nothing is nothing”.
@ Out of this World
“I would rather have a .Net with a site than a .Com that is parked, as my sales director from two decades ago would say “20% of nothing is nothing”.
You have now utterly confirmed my suspicions. You are indeed from the Planet Zeno.
Who are you working for? Old World Marketing would be my Guess
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Because someone spends $65,000,000 for a Jackson Pollock doesn’t mean that it’s a wise investment to buy the paintings of any artist who splatters paint on a canvas.
Because Apple had to pay a lot of money to settle a huge trademark FU, how in g-ds name does does that relate to ‘domain values’ again?
Domains aren’t trademarks. Their comparative relevance to intellectual propertyin the commercial ecosystem, would be how a blank canvass from the art store relates to a Vemeer in a Sothebys Auction.
The iPad mark holders hit an amazing best case scenario lottery, as far as a Top 10 multinational business not doing adequate TM diligence on one of their premier products and infringing release and establishment of an enormously relevant product… all of this in China that has some ‘exciting’ TM laws, to say the least, not to mention whatever hostility they may have for a US based corporation in that scenario. They knew this was going to cost them dearly, but really, it probably amounts to a week’s interest on their cash reserve.
All this means is that heads rolled in the IP department at aapl once someone realized that iPad was already marked in China.
Not very much money considering how many people have internet connections in the mainland. 230 plus million
Don
@ Jeff Schneider
Blabla..zzz
Impossible to take seriously anything an assclown nut says about .COM whose best domain is usebiz.com.
And get this – he wants $6M for it PLUS equity share! LOL
He’s supporting .com with greta fervour when all he has is dogshit like usebiz.com. LOL
As if he’s ever going to somehow profit
from the big .com sales that OTHERS make, that he vicariously lives through
Was it REALLY the best domain you could find in Mar 2000?! WTF
He wouldn’t know a good domain if it hit him in the face
I thought these idiot dreamers were pounded out of the market in the great Tech crash of 2000
Look at his “flagship” site – it looks like it was designed by some 12 yr old kid…back in 1998
And as for this self proclaimed “marketing expert”..LOL
Anytime you need to write a book about the opportunity & benefits of owning a domain…let’s just say…you should stick to your day job…
Oh I forgot, you last worked 10 yrs ago before getting fired for stupidity.
And now at the age of 40+ you still live with your mom…dreaming about hitting the domaining lottery ticket with usebiz.com LOL
Yup…you must really be living the high life in the boondocks in Ohio. NOT
What a fucking nutcase
1) Efficiency in electronic addresses is always strongly desired.
2) rotd conveys meaning to the surfer, watcher, listener
This 1-2 punch means .whatever culture will cause .com addressing to look and feel like detritus in the long run.
The new type-in traffic kings will be the landing pages for the good strings with nothing left of the dot: .home, .cars, .sex, .food etc. The new generation browsers will resolve these hyper efficient addresses.
Also the marketing potential is awesome with rotd in web page links and traditional ad copy. .free ads will be everywhere. It’s a whole new ballgame. Wake up.
Apples next buy will be iWallet.com . Passbook will slot nicely into it.
Cheers
@ Aggro
Heres laughing at you in disbelief. 7/2/12 You are a pussy dealing with a Tiger
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Jeff –
Theres no conspiracy, I havent been sent here to get in with .Com owners to disrupt them because “they are the most creative ahead of the curve” LOLOLOL, yada yada yada.
I like a good domain as much as the next person, the difference is I am not going to just talk about how great the new right of the dots are, when a lot of people who dont know better are going to get robbed blind and I am not going to bang on about how good .Coms are, when in fact sitting on your arse waiting for a buyer of a .Com is far less productive than developing a .CC domain.
Jeff with the greatest of respect, you are one of those people in life who talk a lot but say little of any substance.
Go on mate, tell me I dont get it or how steve jobs is rolling in his grave. ROTFLMAO.
Jeff –
2 minutes later I find your ground breaking post “proof positive” or some such nonsense you were saying earlier….
http://fragerfactor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/jeff-schneider-physical-real-estate-or.html
Wait while I call NASA, he’s cracked it by gosh!
“similar intellectual property like Trademarks and Patents”
Who said domain names are intellectual property?
Trademarks are the IP. Domain names are simply a potential use of a trademark.
It’s a nice thought that domain names are some sort of IP. But the truth is they are not.
Trademarks are backed by a registering office. That office is part of the government. You pay a fee and you get a government-granted right to sue infringers.
We cannot say the same for domain names.
If you want to sue someone over a domain name as intellectual property, in most cases, you’re back to trademark law.
Governments can grant IP rights. ICANN cannot.
ICANN has no real authority over domain names. Think about it if you dare. If you think they do have some rights, then ask yourself where these rights derive from? Eventually you will realize it’s the Department of Commerce that started the ball rolling with a “domain name business”. They allowed certain contractors to sell registrations.
But even then, the notion they could do this had no support in intelectual property law.
The internet has grown a bit since then. Do people really believe the internet is still governed solely by the Department of Commerce?
The problem is that neither DoC, nor ICANN, own the internet’s infrastructure.
The internet is a network of networks, owned by myriad different parties. Your domain name only works because admins cooperate and agree to use the root servers in the ICANN system.
They key word is cooperate. If those admins start to change their behavior, there is nothing ICANN can do. There is no “domain name law” (apart from trademark law) that says what names people can and cannot use. Nor is there any law that tells people which root servers they must use, or that they must even use DNS at all. Domain names are just a convenience. The internet works fine without them (using HOSTS file aliases instead).
If you can get people to pay you large sums for domain names, great. Live it up. Give yourself an award. Travel the world. But we can skip the ridiculous attempts at justifications for the inflated prices people pay. Consider yourself lucky.
There is a big difference between having enforcable trademark rights in China and purchasing a domain name registration for use in China. How do you know China does not filter DNS? If they switch over to their own DNS servers and decide to serve their own version of your “domain name” what can you do (assuming you have no trademark rights)?
Hello MHB
Wern’t some of these Worm Tongued Commentors who spew venom and fiction kicked off other Blogs? You know who I am talking about the people who will not reveal their real names nor where they are getting their Garbage Content ! Hardly professionals, but mostly ” Gattling Gums ” spewing swill that any professional, has a hard time swallowing. Pitiful !
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Here is a nice summary by MotelyFool:
Apple Puts a Nuisance in the Rearview Mirror
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/07/02/apple-puts-a-nuisance-in-the-rearview-mirror.aspx
Not to get off topic, but I’m really concerned – I saw two sky lanterns on Saturday, and I’m worried what is in store for the 4th . . .
Jeff
actually I try not to referee the blog.
I kicked Mr. Cline off for going off the cliff and throwing racial insults at a particular group.
It would be nice if people treated each other with respect but I don’t feel its my job to monitor the blog and censor material.
If you have a particular or if anyone has a particular issue they would like me to review I will do so.
@ Back in the Surreal World ?
2 minutes later I find your ground breaking post “proof positive” or some such nonsense you were saying earlier….
http://fragerfactor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/jeff-schneider-physical-real-estate-or.html
Great Post if I do say so Myself. At least I am Documented are you?
The real laugher on you is this is not the correct post!!!! The real Post is forthcoming, its not released yet. Wrong AGAIN !
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Hello MHB,
Sorry I just want to expose untruths, I do not believe in censorship and never will. If my pusuit of truth has disrupted your site I apologize.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
There is a difference between calling someone out and just being malicious. I did not see the point in ridiculing Jeff. He may be a little out there and a bit of a dreamer (like all of us) but it’s his prerogative. Even someone as established as FS would have gotten raked through the coals, if he anonymously posted that he had an asking price of 1Mill for Dudu.com a year ago. Who knows where, what, the next big thing will be?
“Who knows where, what, the next big thing will be?”
YES, it is hard to predict – but the smart money is betting that the U.S. Government is going to be getting INTO THE INTERNET .BIZ – Big.Time
ICANN will be structured very similar to the U.S. Postal Service (which is a Private Company/Contractor and not actually part of the U.S. Government)
ICANN employees will likely be enjoying drastically reduced GSA Level-based Salaries
Hello MHB
I believe in Due process, I know you do to. please release comment awaiting moderation. Yes I am excitable sometimes I admit, a little like yourself, I like a little spirited debate. What Say Ye ?
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Holy Moses Jeff Schneider, you have got to be the worst blog commenter since Robert Cline! Love the 6.5 million + equity for “usebiz.com”.
Yeah now THERES a guy who should be taken seriously lmao.
Domainer world is so full of delusional, fantasy prone morons. Probably explains why it attracts such marginal weirdos and personality basketcases.
This “industry” is in sore need of an objective expose on it’s practices AND it’s “bit name players”.
@ Good G-d
Oh and I suppose you have better Credentials than I ? Do your homework Grasshopper.
You are the fraud not I . By the way why are you not Named ?? I have nothing to hide. How about you ?? Till you reveal your name and what you are really up to? You are a pretty questionable entity?
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Success isn’t measured in blog comments.
It’s measured in receipts.
Care to talk about your ‘credentials’ in that context, as opposed to what you ‘hope’ to achieve with UseBiz.com, (6,500,000 + equity? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha)
Yet another role playing dreamer takes to the domainer world, where the dreams and talk is as lofty as the professional standards are low.
Get a clue. Your kind ain’t new around these parts.
Jeff
I just woke up and released your comment.
I’m still in Europe and the time is quite different.
Again and just for the record while I love the blog and do my best with it, I do have two other full time jobs one running a domain poritfillo of over 75,000 domains and one as Director of RightoftheDot.com, as well as a wife and a personal life so I cannot be on this 24/7
Thank You, MHB
For releasing my Comment enjoy your business trip in Europe. We all have some things to prove to the critics of ” Virtual Business Foundations ” and their absolute key to any Marketing companies success.
I assure you, I along with many others in the Domaining Industry will have the last laugh! Of course you already know that.
Gratefully Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
To ALL true Domainers
Due to current unfolding events, I promise you there will be much to cheer about ! 7/3/12
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
@ Back in the real World, It doesn’t benefit anyone to denigrate someone’s modus operandi all the time – not you, not Mr. Schneider, not crazy Louise, not anybody. Our own minds can discourage us to move forward – why would you add to that? The owner of 1-800-Flowers – Jim McCann – was shocked to find himself $9 million in debt, as he explains inHow I Made My Millions, after he bought the company that owned 1-800-Flowers and found out it carried $7 million in debt. He HAD to make it. He had nowhere to go but up, a situation many of us can relate to!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRIwORRCBXY
Neustar announced it is going to do a huge marketing push for dot biz, which already benefits from the marketing of new gTLDs. I think Mr. Schneider is sitting pretty now.
And quit criticizing his website! It has original content, which is more you can say for big-name sites like, Nextag, which doesn’t offer Google anything. Not a lick of original content on that site, but it whines that Google is a monopoly!
Louise –
I use one name to post here, this one. Go through the comments again and you will see that I made a comment not mentioning Jeff, or anything to do with Jeff, which he decided to jump on saying I was part of some group conspiracy against .com owners. When I reply to his rubbish with rubbish of my own he wants people banned from the site. LOL
I asked Jeff about his background last week to see if he was coming from somewhere that would suprise me or if he was mentally unstable as I had started to suspect. He responded by showing me the job he held in the decade man first landed on the moon.
Trust me I have better things to do, I wish everyone all the best, Jeff included.
“Neustar announced it is going to do a huge marketing push for dot biz”
The REAL Back-Story on .CO and .BIZ
and “Neustar” was going to set the world on fire with .KIDS also ? and and and…US
…and USA?
But people seem to see the PATTERN and the Military Industrial Complex behind that curtain and .CO
Thanks for sharing the news, Michael! I do agree that domain names are severely underpriced. As intangible as domain names are, beauty still lies in the eyes of the beholder. Moreover there is no dearth of corporations that are yet to become “domain literate.”
@ Back in the real World, Okay, sorry. You addressed @Brian Wick. You said
Interesting point . . . Dot net does well in Google – better than dot com! Probably, Google favors dot net BECAUSE many great dot coms are parked . . . Dot net has potential. Still, my portfolio has shifted toward only dot com, because I saw the point Schwartz and others made . . . One dot net of a popular search I have ranked page 1 of Google with a simple site . . . but it’s hard to promote as, “premium.”
Dot net does well in Google – better than dot com! Probably, Google favors dot net BECAUSE many great dot coms are parked
—
lmao
@ L
Google is about to be dragged Kicking and Screaming into “New World Marketing” I promise you.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
@ Jeff, Google will hit challenges, but I want to hear your opinion. Do tell. Do tell.
@ Louise
I hope this will be my last Comment on the 4th I need to go in my Lair to celebrate this great country, by the way that was founded through its great diversity and coming together and transforming this country into the great country it is.
There will be more forthcoming I promise Cheers!
Gratefully Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
I just bought an orange for $1.50
Now tell me my apple was expensive.
Hello ,MHB
This ones for you! and all the domainers who have SUFFERED SEEMINGLY DEFEAT! All the toys in the world Mean nothing!
You know what means something ? TheFOOT PRINT you leave , for generations to follow. This is America not some third world Bananna Republic!
The Foot Print leading the Pack to light lies in The Secondary Market!
I do not know how to be any clearer!
Gratefully, And ever so gratefull to all of you have that have taken Arrows and remain on your feet! Cheers!
Gratefully Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Apple iOrange
Hello MHB = The siren of Common Sense!
Frank Schilling spoke of a sea change, as well as a”WaterMark” This is a subtle announcement of a Master of our Industry!
Frank Comprehends beyond the speed of light! Are you not listening?
Follow his FootPrints and you will seek what he already has.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
P.S.
If you want what Frank Schilling has?
You need to go into the secondary market ?
The multiples are on the verge of expanding exponentially!
Swallow your Ego , and go for it!
We expect the spreads to be 4X current multiples for top of Pyramid choices, in ,Com Channel and 10X multiples now priced at $5,000 just my opinion, Do what you want.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
iPad3.com domain quickly turned over to Apple’s IP lawyers following complaint
http://fusible.com/2012/07/ipad3-com-domain-quickly-turned-over-to-apples-ip-lawyers-following-complaint
Hmm… does Jeff Schneider follow the Rick Schwartz School Of Thought? Are they connected? Does Jeff WANT To be connected with Schwartz? Or vice versa? Their comments are so similar!