“Huge Auction Of 150 Timeless Trademarks and Domain Names” To Be Held In NY: InfoSeek, Computer City, General Cinema

2010 November 10
by Michael H. Berkens

In an ad that appeared in the New York Times yesterday, by a company named Racebrook announcing that an action of 150 “Timeless Trademarks and Domain Names” will be held on December 8th at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

In reviewing the list there are certainly some interesting, well known trademarks included in the auction:

Infoseek (Search Engine)

Computer City (Computers)

General Instrument (Audio/Video, Telephones)

General CinemaBraniff (Airlines)

American Brand

Meister Brau (beer)

Lucky Whip (food topping)

Handi-Wrap (plastic wrap for food)

The Linen Closet (Home Furnishings)

Child World (Toys)

Changing Times (Magazine)Collier’s  (Magazine)

Circus World

Bowery Savings Bank

The ad says:

“Buy a priceless Trademark, including its Domain Name, and reinvent its commercial success. Never in the history of marketing and advertising has there been this unique investment opportunity.”

The initial purchase is an exclusive license that you can turn into full ownership when you file the Statement of Use and it is accepted by the Patent and Trademark Office.”

The purchase of the domain name is completed immediately upon payment of the full purchase price.”

To see the full list of trademarks and domains for sale, or to register to bid you can click here:

18 Responses leave one →
  1. 2010 November 10

    curiously the site don’t have an email address nor an email form

  2. 2010 November 10
    MHB permalink

    Direct registration is at:

    http://www.trademarkauctioninfo.com/register.htm

  3. 2010 November 10

    So are the trademarks expired?
    Are they all the “trademark.com”?

  4. 2010 November 10
    MHB permalink

    Brian

    Like anything else if your interested you have to do your homework, figure out what is being sold and evaluate the risks.

  5. 2010 November 10

    @MHB
    Done and done

  6. 2010 November 10

    December 8th at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.
    San Francisco California, December 8-9, 2010
    ICANN Colombia Cartegena .CO – December 8th

  7. 2010 November 10
    Landon White permalink

    Truly Remarkable Names,

    This is something that will really impress …

    your ambitious nagging gold digging bea …

    Why you could instantly become a Magnate CEO overnight,
    on paper.

  8. 2010 November 10
    More of the same permalink

    Great marketing strategy, bad names. Most of the domain names do not correspond to the trademarks they are associated with. Example joesbank tm comes with joesbankandtrust.com Lame lame lame.

  9. 2010 November 10
    Nother Jokr permalink

    On their website they claim they will sell 30% of the names at no reserve and then

    “The balance of the trademarks will be with reserve wherein the Owner can accept or reject the high bid”

    If you want their total bidder package the cost is $1750.00 and there is a $50 to bid online. Hey who needs to sell domain names? Just sell info packages at close to 2K a pop and keep the domain names. Mikey likes it!

  10. 2010 November 10
    Gazzip permalink

    Hmm, It looks like Gold Rush Brands, LLC recently filed the trade mark for HBOS…even though hbos.co.uk still points to the Lloyds Banking Group who took them over.

    https://www.trademarkia.com/hbos-77927717.html

    http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4002:atstfb.2.20

    Current Status: Opposition period completed, a Notice of Allowance has been issued.

    ….interesting stategy as long as you fully understand trade mark law (and have a good lawyer just in case) :)

  11. 2010 November 10
    Steve M permalink

    No one should but any of the TMs or their associated domains w/out the review of an excellent IP (including domains) attorney.

  12. 2010 November 10

    Sure is a different sale but anything related to trademarks really needs to be proceeded with carefully , i wonder if any of the companies had filed for bankruptcies ? or are liable to any future costs , me thinks run for the hills !

  13. 2010 November 11
    Landon White permalink

    BAIT AND SWITCH :

    KNOWN brands ….
    will be taken ALREADY, of course

    and then …
    you will be Up Sold the chaf …

    Classic!

  14. 2010 November 11

    Shady, Shady, Shady. The this is a nightmare. Do not do it. One of the principles likes to play around with the TM laws and USTPO rules to get around obvious TM violations. Example, they Tried to Publish a magazine called “Modern Maturity” same name as AARP’s 50MM subscription Mag. Tried to Register a TM for “Chemical Bank” claiming that the one you have all heard of is known as Chemical Bank & Trust. These are the kinds of pre-established TM approvals they are offering.

    There are 158 names listed. 4 of the names they list are avail to reg now. (Maybe they had a typo in their list but still, Buyer Beware) allsweetmargerine.com, greenergyproducts.net, linenclosetprodcuts.com, relaxacisor.net They stink anyway!

    The guy sellin
    Most of this garbage is less than 1 year old. Wondering how they can get away with this.

    Here are the only True Brand Name domains. They are owned by the same person/company…Michael Reich/200 Kelsey Associates. All the others have suffixes like xxxProducts.com, xxxxxCompany.net or xxxxxShopping.org.

    AmericanBrands.com
    AmericanPetrofina.com
    BreakfastMates.com
    CheezKisses.com
    CleanerGreener.net
    CocoMalt.com
    ControlData.org
    CrustQuick.com
    FirstBrands.org
    FruitBombs.com
    GeneralCinema.net
    GeneralCinemaCorp.com
    KoolShake.com
    LipKissers.com
    LuckyWhip.com
    LustreCreme.com
    NailSlickers.com
    OldSodaShoppe.com
    PacificBrands.net
    PacificResources.com
    ParisElegant.com
    Permastrate.net
    RockyRounds.com
    SnowCrop.net

  15. 2010 November 11

    Assuming he owned them before their was a federal trademark on the names(or close), once you buy them, all bets are off. The trademark owners can claim you knew about their trademarks and bought them anyway. Screw that. $100K lawsuits for each name. Don’t be crazy.

  16. 2010 November 12

    Sounds great but I come from a place of wanting to build your business brand from the ground up.

  17. 2010 November 30
    Skippy permalink

    To echo some of the comments above, this auction is literally:

    1) a minefield, poised to explode on anyone foolish enough to bid on an unregistered, non-transferable ITU;

    2) absurd; in that 200 Kelsey spent years and lots of money applying for a hodge-podge of lousy trademarks, 90% of which have been abandoned to date, with most of the unregistered remaining live applications on the verge of permanent expiry;

    3) desperate, given that none of the marks in question would be “for sale” if there were any marketplace interest in licensing or buying the few registered marks on offer, or using the remaining ITUs in commerce;

    4) borderline fraudulent, given the likelihood that the few registrations awarded 200 Kelsey by USPTO were done so on the basis of possibly falsified, certainly exaggerated Use In Commerce. Can you find any of these brands on products or services for sale? Anywhere? Sorry- URLs don’t qualify.

    5) a ginormous Pain In The Ass for the trademark system; falling somewhere on the Socially Useless / Predatory spectrum between Domain Name squatters; IP patent acquirers who litigate on specious grounds of “business process violation”; and Goldman Sachs.

    Hopefully this auction won’t encourage a tsunami of speculative trademark applications that tie up USPTO examiner resources and block legitimate trademark applications with viable Use In Commerce by legitimate manufacturers and marketers.

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  1. Results From Much Hyped Trademark Brand Auction: $45K Tops The Auction Which Fetches MUCH Less Than A Domain Name Auction | Domains Players

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