Is there an issue here?

February 6, 2001 7:49 AM

Matt, in view of the sideblog link you posted to the "other" Metafilter, have you ever considered doing anything about getting ownership of the name? I hate to sound like an IP vulture, but what if someone else decides to start a MetaFilter a la the "other" /usr/bin/girl? Or, what's worse, does that and decides to prevent *you* from using it? It's an evil world out there. Is there an issue here?
posted by rodii to MetaFilter-Related at 7:49 AM (10 comments total)

How could anyone prevent Matt from using the name? He's got prior art up the Wazoo.

(which is why he doesn't use frames on the site. Ooch.)
posted by cCranium at 9:13 AM on February 6, 2001

Well, cC, the link referenced mentions something from the early 70's called Meta Filter.

I'm not too worried, about trademarks or anything. I came up with the name for a specific purpose ("filtering" the web at a "meta" level), and if anyone suddenly becomes MetaFilter Corp and decides to sue, I can't see how there would be cross-over.

I could spend that amazon money on a trademark application, but what's the point?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:17 AM on February 6, 2001

Hrm. I read that text "introduces Meta Filter..." as meaning it was a theoretical machine, but I easily err.

Can't you just ^TM everything without it being registered and still have it carry some legal weight?
posted by cCranium at 10:03 AM on February 6, 2001

Since 1946, a company has had a trademark on METAFILTER for some kind of fluid filtration system, according to the USPTO database.

If you're paranoid, you might worry that the company will file a domain-name dispute with ICANN to get metafilter.com at some point. Since the company has a trademark and you don't, ICANN might hand it over.

You can register a trademark online at the USPTO for around $400-$500.
posted by rcade at 11:03 AM on February 6, 2001

I can't tell if this link is persistent or not, but you can try to load the MetaFilter registration directly.
posted by rcade at 11:04 AM on February 6, 2001

He's got prior art up the Wazoo.

Is that why he walks a little funny? I just figured his underpants were a bit tight.
posted by bradlands at 11:45 AM on February 6, 2001

Matt wears underpants?
posted by dangerman at 1:45 PM on February 6, 2001

you might worry that the company will file a domain-name dispute with ICANN to get metafilter.com at some point. Since the company has a trademark and you don't, ICANN might hand it over.

well, I have metafilter.org in case that ever happened.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:49 PM on February 6, 2001

Man, how Meta is that? It's a posting about a sideblog posting about Metafilter. The only way it's getting any better is if someone links to the sideblog as something to discuss. My head hurts now.
posted by norm at 9:53 PM on February 6, 2001

You're welcome!

Hey, Matt, we need permalinks in the sideblog. :)
posted by rodii at 4:50 PM on February 7, 2001