On June 29, 2015 I had reported the domain name Hum.com had been acquired by a company going by the name of “1877 Holdings LLC” according to whois records. That same company filed an image mark and word mark. The word mark is for an OBD product / service and bares the name of: Hum
I have discovered a little bit more information and this has lead me to believe that Verizon Telematics may be the buyers of the Hum.com domain name and recently filed trademarks?
Verizon acquired Hughes Telematics in June 2012 for $612 Million when Hughes had $67.3 Million in funding. Hughes was founded in 2007 and “develops a suite of information-based and wireless services that are adaptable to any sort of vehicle platform. The HTI solutions are developed to be open source architecture, with a telematics platform “allowing for inter-connectivity between multiple content providers, call centers and in-vehicle hardware platforms.” according to the CrunchBase listing page.
The domain name Hum.com, which is using “1877 Holdings LLC” in the whois records is registered at the Brand Protection/Domain Name Registrar MarkMonitor, has just updated name servers to ns1.hughestelematics.com . The domain name HughesTelematics.com has a registrant ownership of Fred Blumer of Hughes Telematics Inc. but Verizon is listed as the admin contact.
Knowing that Hughes Telematics Inc. was acquired by Verizon in 2012 and Hughes Telematics is now Verizon Telematics and with the name servers set to ns1.hughestelematics.com on Hum.com, this IMO connects the Hum.com domain name purchase and the two recently filed trademarks with “1877 Holdings LLC” and to Verizon Telematics.
According to its website Verizon Telematics is not only powering Mercedes-Benz mbrace™ service which they call “the next level of connectivity for drivers”.
“Aggregates best in class wireless services into robust and adaptable solutions that can be tailored to any platform. Our solutions are built around the next generation architecture, which is an open telematics platform allowing for interconnectivity between multiple content providers, call centers and hardware platforms.
We offer flexible connectivity products and services tailored to different industries through our four primary portfolio offerings:
In-Drive (Aftermarket & UBI)
A unique aftermarket solution offering safety and diagnostic telematics services for vehicles.
Networkfleet (Fleet Management)
A leading provider of wireless fleet management services that improves fleet operating efficiency by reducing fuel consumption, maintenance expenses and vehicle.
White Label Products (OEM):
Our white label, premier suite of telematics services for manufacturers is unparalleled in the industry, and offers many tangible benefits for drivers, OEMs and dealers.”
So will Verizon be offing a new product / service with the Hum name and matching 3 letter domain name Hum.com? The above information may be the early clues that they are?
I did reach out to Verizon directly for comment but have not heard back at time of publication but I will update the story if I do hear back.
