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FiftyThree Files Trademark For “Paper”

techcrunch.com

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Re: FiftyThree Files Trademark For “Paper”

#21

Post by [deleted] »

jcutrell wrote: post #4

I'd be interested to see how FiftyThree proves damages in this case, and whether or not the judge will make a call for the punitive damages. I definitely think that there's no doubt about it: the FiftyThree Paper sales will certainly take a hit, and the brand is diluted hugely, especially for those who haven't encountered it yet. This was obviously a conversation that Facebook had, and chose to do it anyway - not sur…

[deleted]

Re: FiftyThree Files Trademark For “Paper”

#22

Post by blueblob »

slg wrote: post #17
dylandrop wrote: post #10

Is this really the best usage of your funding cash? Seems like half of 53's $15M can go down the drain with this sort of thing. I sort of expect FB Paper to flop like the Facebook phone OS thing; if I were 53 I wouldn't be going so ballistic over this. Best case, they get the trademark and Facebook whittles down all of their funding in order for them to get it. Better for them to just move on and recognize that their…

If there goal is to make money and let's be honest, that is the goal of most start-ups, is this really a bad plan? It seems like it is a high risk/high reward proposition that most people on here love. Sure the odds Facebook's Paper being a success aren't sky high. Same with the chance of Facebook agreeing to a licensing agreement on the name. But when you compare the potential income from that to a fancy iPad app an…

I don't think they expect Facebook to license the name; I think they don't want to dilute their name.

EDIT: Interestingly enough for me, I found it kind of repulsive that King.com trademarked "Candy" but I don't find this repulsive (I guess because either I am a hypocrite, or because "Paper" is their entire product name).

Re: FiftyThree Files Trademark For “Paper”

#23

Post by antr »

After reading this I kind of regret buying Paper's (FiftyThree) digital pencils/brushes/etc. A drawing app wanting to kill the use of that word in other industry verticals... i think "trademark troll" is now a real thing

Re: FiftyThree Files Trademark For “Paper”

#25

Post by scep12 »

dylandrop wrote: post #10

Is this really the best usage of your funding cash? Seems like half of 53's $15M can go down the drain with this sort of thing. I sort of expect FB Paper to flop like the Facebook phone OS thing; if I were 53 I wouldn't be going so ballistic over this. Best case, they get the trademark and Facebook whittles down all of their funding in order for them to get it. Better for them to just move on and recognize that their…

At this point it's some nice PR. Until they start spending real money on legal, it's all smoke and mirrors.

Re: FiftyThree Files Trademark For “Paper”

#26

Post by rebel »

MrWhargarbl wrote: post #12

Why were people so up in arms over King's attempt to trademark "Candy", but suddenly it's OK to trademark "Paper"?!?

I agree with you wholeheartedly. If you don't want someone else to use your product name, don't use one of the most common English nouns in the dictionary.

Re: FiftyThree Files Trademark For “Paper”

#27

Post by gfodor »

This whole thing is so stupid because it's pretty evident that Facebook is going to just turn the real app into Paper if the metrics look good, and the working name "Paper" is going to probably be abandoned. It seems they decided to launch the thing as a separate app to get feedback before completely overhauling the Facebook experience on iOS. Of course, Facebook can't admit to this, so FiftyThree is off in a corner freaking out.

Re: FiftyThree Files Trademark For “Paper”

#28

Post by stackcollision »

untog wrote: post #3

Oh. See, yesterday I thought they were being quite civil and just getting some free publicity from the whole thing. But today...

There's no such thing as 'civil' when it comes to business, especially not when you're dealing with millions of dollars. When most business people (SV companies included) shake your hand they're holding a knife behind their back in the other.
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