• Home
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Awards
  • Privacy Policy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS
TheDomains.com

Wolfram Alpha Owner Loses UDRP To Grab The Domain WolframVentures.com

January 13, 2016 by Michael Berkens

Wolfram Group LLC has lost its attempt to grab the domain name wolframventures.com

Here are the highlights:

The Complainant is a provider of computational knowledge and mathematical software with offices in Paris, Tokyo, Lima, Linkoping, Bangalore, Boston and Champaign (Illinois). It has been operating under the name “Wolfram” since 1987. Perhaps, its most well-known service to the general public is the “Wolfram Alpha” search engine.

Amongst other things, the Complainant has registered WOLFRAM as a trademark in both the United States of America and as a Community Trademark:

– United States Trademark No. 3,740,375 registered on January 19, 2010;

– Community Trademark No. 006413397 registered on September 15, 2009.

The Respondent graduated as a chemist from the University of Manchester in the UK in 1999. In 2011 and 2012, he undertook a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Manchester Business School associated with the University of Manchester.

The Respondent registered the disputed domain name on November 13, 2012.

On November 14, 2012, the Respondent incorporated a company in the UK under the name Wolfram Ventures Ltd. This company was subsequently dissolved, apparently without ever trading.

On June 25, 2013, the Respondent incorporated a second company in the UK under the name Wolfram Consulting Ltd.

The Respondent was the sole director and shareholder of the “Ventures” company and is the sole director and shareholder of the “Consulting” company.

According to the Response, the Respondent has carried on a business of management consultancy, including providing consultancy services to venture capitalists and private equity, since completing his MBA. Although he had incorporated the companies mentioned above, the Response appears to state the Respondent was operating as a sole trader under the name Wolfram Consulting until the business began to be carried on through the “Consulting” company during the financial year ending June 30, 2014. Some limited evidence has been submitted confirming the Respondent’s claims to carrying on business as Wolfram Consulting.

It appears that the disputed domain name has never resolved to an active website. It does, however, resolve to a “passive” parking page which, according to a letter from the Registrar includes advertisements placed there by the Registrar without any active involvement by the Respondent.

Under the third requirement of the Policy, the Complainant must establish that the disputed domain name has been both registered and used in bad faith by the Respondent

Generally speaking, a finding that a domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith requires an inference to be drawn that the respondent in question has registered and is using the disputed domain name to take advantage of its significance as a trademark owned by (usually) the complainant.

The Complainant relies on its reputation in its trademark and what are said to be admissions made by the Respondent in communications before the Complaint was filed to show that the Respondent was well aware of the Complainant and its trademark when he registered the disputed domain name.

The Complainant also relies on the dissolution of the “Ventures” company without trading and the use of the disputed domain name to resolve to a “parking” page which has “pay per click” advertisements.

In addition, the Complainant relies on the Respondent’s refusal to transfer the disputed domain name to the Complainant for a sum of USD500 or USD2,000. Instead, the Respondent suggested that GBP17,500 or even GBP200,000 would be required.

According to the Respondent, he registered the disputed domain name as one of four domain names for planned business ventures.

The Respondent says that the disputed domain name and the “Ventures” company were registered as the vehicles for his planned business of providing consultancy services for venture capitalists and private equity. This was said to be a second line to his general consultancy business.

According to the Respondent he initially carried on his general management consultancy business as a sole trader under the name Wolfram Consulting. Although he incorporated the “Consulting” company in 2013, he says he did not start using it actively as his business vehicle until some point in the financial year ending June 30, 2014. He says he dissolved the “Ventures” company as it was not necessary for the scale of his operations and maintaining the company registration was incurring unnecessary costs such as accounting fees associated with annual reporting requirements and the like.

The Panel first notes that the Respondent registered the disputed domain name and both the “Ventures” company and the “Consulting” company long after the Complainant commenced operations under its name and also a number of years after the Complainant registered the trademarks referred to in section 4 above.

In such circumstances, the facts of the registration of these company names or the Respondent’s business operations under the name “Wolfram Consulting” so many years after the Complainant are not in themselves sufficient to confer rights or legitimate interests or to constitute good faith under the Policy.

The Respondent categorically denies that he was aware of the Complainant, its trademark or its services when he registered the disputed domain name and adopted “Wolfram Consulting” for his business.

The Respondent points out that “wolfram” is the Latin or former name for tungsten.

In acknowledgement of this, tungsten is still identified by the letter “W” in the periodic table. The Respondent also points to a number of other companies and businesses which have been registered or operate under the name “Wolfram” and which are apparently not associated with the Complainant. In this context, the Respondent also refers to what he considers to be the very different fields of operation of his business and the businesses of the Complainant and its subsidiary.

As noted above, the Complainant says the Respondent’s actions were done with knowledge of the Complainant and its business. It points in particular to a statement in an email from the Respondent in which the Respondent stated that he was:

“a small businessman who is also – like your founder – a scientist, attempting to make a few small changes to the world around us ….” (emphasis supplied)

This does suggest awareness of the Complainant and its founder.

The Respondent seeks to explain this on the basis that he found out something about the Complainant and its founder through research the Respondent undertook following receipt of the initial approach from the Complainant.

While having more than a few reservations about the explanation advanced by the Respondent, the Panel considers that it is ultimately not appropriate to go behind the Respondent’s express denials of awareness of the Complainant or its trademark on the record in this case. These proceedings are proceedings on the papers without the benefit of cross-examination and the opportunity to observe and assess witnesses. The claimed derivation of the disputed domain name and the Respondent’s “consulting” trading name are not implausible having regard to the Respondent’s background in chemistry and the existence of a number of other companies and businesses which also apparently base themselves on “Wolfram”. Whether that would remain the case after further forensic examination of the kind available in court proceedings is another matter.

Accordingly, on the record in this case, the Complainant has not established that the disputed domain name was registered in bad faith. The Complaint therefore cannot succeed under the Policy.

Filed Under: UDRP

About Michael Berkens

Michael Berkens, Esq. is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheDomains.com. Michael is also the co-founder of Worldwide Media Inc. which sold around 70K domain to Godaddy.com in December 2015 and now owns around 8K domain names . Michael was also one of the 5 Judges selected for the the Verisign 30th Anniversary .Com contest.

« .Auto .Car, .Cars Get 1st day Registrations at $60K Per Domain
Garden.org & All Assets Of National Gardening Association, Inc Up For Auction »

Comments

  1. jose says

    January 13, 2016 at 2:36 pm

    on another note, X.org foundation is risking loose X.org:

    http://news.slashdot.org/story/16/01/08/2144201/after-years-of-serving-x11-xorg-stands-to-lose-its-one-letter-domain=

  2. jose says

    January 13, 2016 at 2:38 pm

    they renew x.org yesterday

  3. DNSal.es says

    January 13, 2016 at 3:06 pm

    Is like owning wolfram.com and wolfr.am is not enough?! Surprised the trademark was granted considering it is a common name after all.

  4. Steve says

    January 14, 2016 at 12:06 am

    I’ve worked with Stephen Wolfram on a project. One of the great minds of our generation, It’s my understanding his company Wolfram Alpha has turned down offers from major players to acquire his company,at at least the computational knowledge engine which I use as much as Google.

    Stephen Wolfram is right up there with Larry Page and Timothy Berrners Lee n brilliance,

    If I heard Wolfram Ventures, I’d immediately think it was part of Wolfram Alpha, just as if I had heard Dell Ventures or Bezos Ventures or Buffet Consulting, and I’d assume Michael, Jeff and Warren, respectively.

    If the respondent’s name is Wolfram or he resides in a town called Wolfram, I’d say “not bad faith”. But Wolfram Alpha is a big-time tecnology enterprise — search, AI, semantics, visual search, and more. Thie app used to be the most expensive app in iTunes at $69 per install, used in the same way by data and reseacrh companies used Bloomberg (another case wherein I’d assume Bloomberg Ventures to be Michael Bloomberg.

    Bad Faith — IMO — and I rarely conclude this, unless it’s completely obvious.

  5. David says

    January 15, 2016 at 10:41 am

    Steve, your comments smack of someone connected to Wolfram closely. Are you involved in this and have bad feelings? Read the case. There are dozens of companies worldwide that contain the name “wolfram” as it is a common word in chemistry. Are they all bad faith examples?

    Companies have to realise that if they use a common word and are relatively unheard of, then other people can and will use that word in their company names. Compared to the people you mention, Wolfram is an unknown. How many people on the street have heard of them? Hardly any.

    Just looking at things like Twitter followings and page hits can be useful and the facts that Wolfram only has a few thousand followers on Twitter and a couple hundred thousand internet users per day, would indicate it is very much not famous, especially compared to the people you mention!

  6. David says

    January 15, 2016 at 11:29 am

    In addition, if you read the full case report, the complainant obviously wanted to grab this domain for a new business idea, not because the respondent was a threat. If you ask me, this was more a case of reverse domain name hijacking. That they offered to buy it proves that.

    This was the right outcome. Big companies can not just beat little guys in to submission, just because they thought of a business first.

  7. Steve says

    January 15, 2016 at 12:05 pm

    @David

    Wolfram is an unknown? Not in tech and VC circles.

    Google has more respect for Wolfram’s search technology than it has for Bing. & Wofram’s computational knowledge engine is poised to overtake Wikipedia by 2017.

    Don’t measure a person or company’s worth by Twitter followers. Palantir has been operating with little fan fare for a while, and now it’s a behemoth getting more powerful by the day. The same with Wolfam Alpha.

    Stephen Wolfram is not a publicity-hound. Nor are Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Larry Ellison or Jeff Bezos.

    • David says

      January 15, 2016 at 12:13 pm

      Being famous in a niche circle, does not equal fame. The simple truth is that the vast majority of people have never heard of him, whereas they have heard of every other person you;ve mentioned.

      “Stephen Wolfram is not a publicity-hound. Nor are Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Larry Ellison or Jeff Bezos.”

      Interesting then that he’s the only one to name his company after himself!

      My point remains. This was an attempt at reverse domain name hijacking… Otherwise why are Wolfram Alpha not pursuing other Wolfram domains and companies?

      • Zhivago says

        January 16, 2016 at 3:48 am

        To name a few:

        wolfram.biz
        wolfram.club
        wolfram.college
        wolfram.consulting
        wolfram.design
        wolfram.engineer
        wolfram.host
        wolfram.info
        wolfram.koeln
        wolfram.lawyer
        wolfram.link
        wolfram.net
        wolfram.ninja
        wolfram.onl
        wolfram.online
        wolfram.org
        wolfram.ovh
        wolfram.press
        wolfram.rocks
        wolfram.science
        wolfram.site
        wolfram.software
        wolfram.solutions
        wolfram.space
        wolfram.tel
        wolfram.top
        wolfram.ventures
        wolfram.website
        wolfram.xxx
        wolfram.xyz

        wolfram74.com
        wolfram945.com
        wolframa.com
        wolframaalpha.com
        wolframacoustical.com
        wolframadd.com
        wolframadler.com
        wolframadvisory.com
        wolframahlpa.com
        wolframalapha.com
        wolframalderson.com
        wolframalfa.com
        wolframalfha.com
        wolframalfpha.com
        wolframalha.com
        wolframalhpa.com
        wolframalloys.com
        wolframalpa.com
        wolframalpah.com
        wolframalph.com
        wolframalpha.com
        wolframalphaalpha.com
        wolframalphabet.com
        wolframalphabeta.com
        wolframalphablog.com
        wolframalphacloud.com
        wolframalphallc.com
        wolframalphaomega.com
        wolframalphapedia.com
        wolframalphaplus.com
        wolframalphapro.com
        wolframalphasearch.com
        wolframalphasucks.com
        wolframalphasux.com
        wolframalphavideo.com
        wolframalphe.com
        wolframalphra.com
        wolframalphs.com
        wolframaltha.com
        wolframalucard.com
        wolframamadeus.com
        wolframamalpha.com
        wolframan.com
        wolframanalyse.com
        wolframanalytics.com
        wolframanalyze.com
        wolframandart.com
        wolframandes.com
        wolframandhart.com
        wolframandhartservices.com
        wolframandheart.com
        wolframandscott.com
        wolframanswer.com
        wolframanswerengine.com
        wolframanswers.com
        wolframapedia.com
        wolframapha.com
        wolframaphla.com
        wolframapla.com
        wolframaplha.com
        wolframaplpha.com
        wolframapplication.com
        wolframapps.com
        wolframarchive.com
        wolframarchives.com
        wolframarer.com
        wolframart.com
        wolframask.com
        wolframate.com
        wolframatlas.com
        wolframbaby.com
        wolframballistics.com
        wolframbase.com
        wolframbentz.com
        wolframbenz.com
        wolframberge.com
        wolframbeta.com
        wolframbikes.com
        wolframbio.com
        wolframbioscience.com
        wolframblog.com
        wolframboard.com
        wolframbook.com
        wolframbooks.com
        wolframbot.com
        wolframbox.com
        wolframbrain.com
        wolframbrandhoff.com
        wolframbrunner.com
        wolframbullet.com
        wolframbullets.com
        wolframbusiness.com
        wolframbusinesssystems.com
        wolframcae.com
        wolframcafe.com
        wolframcalc.com
        wolframcalculate.com
        wolframcalculator.com
        wolframcalculators.com
        wolframcapital.com
        wolframcarb.com
        wolframcarbid.com
        wolframcarbide.com
        wolframcarbon.com
        wolframcdn.com
        wolframceglobal.com
        wolframcenter.com
        wolframcentral.com
        wolframcheese.com
        wolframchi.com
        wolframclassroom.com
        wolframclient.com
        wolframcloud.com
        wolframco.com
        wolframcode.com
        wolframcom.com
        wolframcompanies.com
        wolframcompany.com
        wolframcomputation.com
        wolframcomputational.com
        wolframcompute.com
        wolframcomputer.com
        wolframcomputes.com
        wolframconference.com
        wolframconsultants.com
        wolframconsulting.com
        wolframconsultinggroup.com
        wolframcore.com
        wolframcorp.com
        wolframcreative.com
        wolframcycles.com
        wolframdata.com
        wolframdatadrop.com
        wolframdatapedia.com
        wolframdatasummit.com
        wolframdelta.com
        wolframdemarco.com
        wolframdemo.com
        wolframdemonstration.com
        wolframdemonstrations.com
        wolframdemos.com
        wolframderschmidt.com
        wolframdesign.com
        wolframdesigns.com
        wolframdesignsinc.com
        wolframdesktop.com
        wolframdeveloper.com
        wolframdigital.com
        wolframdix.com
        wolframdonat.com
        wolframdressler.com
        wolframdt.com
        wolframe.com
        wolframealpha.com
        wolframeducation.com
        wolframen.com
        wolframeng.com
        wolframengine.com
        wolframengineering.com
        wolframenterprise.com
        wolframenterprises.com
        wolframepsilon.com
        wolframer.com
        wolframerhardt.com
        wolframes.com
        wolframespa.com
        wolframeta.com
        wolframfam.com
        wolframfamily.com
        wolframfdn.com
        wolframfeed.com
        wolframfoods.com
        wolframforbusiness.com
        wolframforms.com
        wolframforstartups.com
        wolframforum.com
        wolframfoundation.com
        wolframfranke.com
        wolframfriele.com
        wolframgamma.com
        wolframgear.com
        wolframglatz.com
        wolframgoods.com
        wolframgothe.com
        wolframgrafik.com
        wolframgraphics.com
        wolframgroup.com
        wolframgruss.com
        wolframhahn.com
        wolframhalpha.com
        wolframhart.com
        wolframhartdonowitz.com
        wolframhartla.com
        wolframhearst.com
        wolframheart.com
        wolframhempel.com
        wolframhoell.com
        wolframholdings.com
        wolframhome.com
        wolframhub.com
        wolframia.com
        wolframic.com
        wolframice.com
        wolframics.com
        wolframict.com
        wolframimages.com
        wolframinc.com
        wolframindex.com
        wolframinnovation.com
        wolframinnovations.com
        wolframinstitute.com
        wolframinvestments.com
        wolframio.com
        wolframiota.com
        wolframise.com
        wolframiser.com
        wolframism.com
        wolframite.com
        wolframium.com
        wolframix.com
        wolframize.com
        wolframizer.com
        wolframjewelers.com
        wolframk.com
        wolframkappa.com
        wolframkarbid.com
        wolframkastl.com
        wolframkids.com
        wolframkirsch.com
        wolframklein.com
        wolframklug.com
        wolframknight.com
        wolframkoehler.com
        wolframkoessel.com
        wolframkorea.com
        wolframkupfer.com
        wolframkurschatconsulting.com
        wolframkurschatsportsandhealthconsulting.com
        wolframlab.com
        wolframlabs.com
        wolframlambda.com
        wolframlang.com
        wolframlanguage.com
        wolframlapha.com
        wolframlarmon.com
        wolframlatschar.com
        wolframlattke.com
        wolframlaw.com
        wolframlawfirm.com
        wolframlearning.com
        wolframlearningsystems.com
        wolframlex.com
        wolframlights.com
        wolframlingua.com
        wolframlinke.com
        wolframlive.com
        wolframllc.com
        wolframlohr.com
        wolframloops.com
        wolframlpha.com
        wolframltd.com
        wolframm.com
        wolframmanufacturing.com
        wolframmarketing.com
        wolframmathcore.com
        wolframmathematica.com
        wolframmathworld.com
        wolframmedia.com
        wolframmedical.com
        wolframmedicalsystems.com
        wolframmeta.com
        wolframmetchem.com
        wolframmfg.com
        wolframmowing.com
        wolframmu.com
        wolframmusic.com
        wolframnagel.com
        wolframnano.com
        wolframnb.com
        wolframnet.com
        wolframnetwork.com
        wolframnotebook.com
        wolframnu.com
        wolframoff.com
        wolframomega.com
        wolframomicron.com
        wolframonline.com
        wolframopencloud.com
        wolframorg.com
        wolframortner.com
        wolframov.com
        wolframoverflow.com
        wolframp.com
        wolframpalpha.com
        wolframpant.com
        wolframpedia.com
        wolframpehlke.com
        wolframpetton.com
        wolframpha.com
        wolframphi.com
        wolframphotography.com
        wolframphysics.com
        wolframphysicsprize.com
        wolframpi.com
        wolframpiday.com
        wolframplatform.com
        wolframplatz.com
        wolframplex.com
        wolframplot.com
        wolframplots.com
        wolframplus.com
        wolframprecision.com
        wolframprize.com
        wolframprizes.com
        wolframprocess.com
        wolframproductions.com
        wolframproducts.com
        wolframprogramming.com
        wolframprogramminglab.com
        wolframprograms.com
        wolframprogressive.com
        wolframproject.com
        wolframproperties.com
        wolframpsi.com
        wolframq.com
        wolframqa.com
        wolframqualityservices.com
        wolframracing.com
        wolframracingteam.com
        wolframrecycling.com
        wolframred.com
        wolframref.com
        wolframreference.com
        wolframrefining.com
        wolframresearch.com
        wolframresidency.com
        wolframresource.com
        wolframrestaurant.com
        wolframreulecke.com
        wolframrho.com
        wolframriders.com
        wolframringe.com
        wolframs.com
        wolframsachs.com
        wolframsalpha.com
        wolframschenck.com
        wolframschindler.com
        wolframschmidt.com
        wolframschmuck.com
        wolframschroll.com
        wolframschulz.com
        wolframscience.com
        wolframscienceconference.com
        wolframscienceinstitute.com
        wolframscientific.com
        wolframscott.com
        wolframscript.com
        wolframsearch.com
        wolframsecurity.com
        wolframshof.com
        wolframsigma.com
        wolframsk.com
        wolframslides.com
        wolframslpha.com
        wolframsolution.com
        wolframsolutions.com
        wolframsource.com
        wolframsport.com
        wolframspreview.com
        wolframstar.com
        wolframstart.com
        wolframstatistics.com
        wolframstats.com
        wolframstudio.com
        wolframstudios.com
        wolframsucks.com
        wolframsupply.com
        wolframsux.com
        wolframswonderouswares.com
        wolframsworkshop.com
        wolframsyndrome.com
        wolframsystems.com
        wolframtable.com
        wolframtap.com
        wolframtaq.com
        wolframtau.com
        wolframtech.com
        wolframtechconference.com
        wolframtechnologies.com
        wolframtechnology.com
        wolframtechnologyconference.com
        wolframtest.com
        wolframtheta.com
        wolframthurm.com
        wolframtimm.com
        wolframtones.com
        wolframtool.com
        wolframtools.com
        wolframtowers.com
        wolframtowerscondo.com
        wolframtrainer.com
        wolframtraining.com
        wolframtrinius.com
        wolframtrio.com
        wolframtunes.com
        wolframtungsten.com
        wolframu.com
        wolframuk.com
        wolframuniverse.com
        wolframupsilon.com
        wolframvc.com
        wolframventure.com
        wolframventures.com
        wolframverse.com
        wolframwaescher.com
        wolframwalter.com
        wolframweb.com
        wolframweights.com
        wolframweld.com
        wolframwelding.com
        wolframwerbung.com
        wolframwolfram.com
        wolframworkplacelaw.com
        wolframworks.com
        wolframx.com
        wolframxi.com
        wolframzeta.com
        wolframzwanziger.com

        • David says

          January 16, 2016 at 2:04 pm

          LOL. They may have registered these. They haven’t won them through UDRP.

          What’s your point? Do you also work for Wolfram?

          • David says

            January 16, 2016 at 2:44 pm

            Many apologies. I thought you meant that these were all the web domains Wolfram Alpha own! I see that there are a lot of them that they don’t! Proving my point!

  8. Steve says

    January 15, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    @David

    I don’t know how you define fame?

    What I do know is Steve Jobs compared Stephen Wolfram to Einstein, Newton, and Feynman. I don’t feel Stephen’s business acumen is on the level of Jobs, Ellison, Page, Bezos or Musk, but many of the technologies used today are powered and/or enhanced by Wolfram Alpha, including Siri.

    His algorithms power Bloomberg’s trading platforms. He accomplished more than most by the age of 15, and is the youngest ever recipient of the MacArthur Genius award at the age of 20 or 21.

    OK, so he’s not as famous as Kim Kardashian; and I have no idea why his company wished to obtain “Wolfram Ventures”, as I’m not privy to its plans.

    I do know some fairly high powered people in Silicon Valley who feel we will be doing more”Wolframing” than “Googling” within 5 years, to find information and for search queries.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Wolfram

    • David says

      January 16, 2016 at 2:26 pm

      This is amusing… Fame is pretty easy to define. I’m not even entering in to that discussion.
      If you’ve read the case, you’ll know why Wolfram Alpha want the name – you either haven’t read it (why comment then?) or are trolling this thread as you are connected to Wolfram.

      I’m here because I’m interested in domain names and trademarks, not because of some unknown’s alleged “genius”.

      You have mentioned Musk and Bezos… These are interesting.

      Musk has a company named after a famous (although dead) scientist and has no connection to that name. Indeed, Tesla was a proven genius. But you have no problem with this?

      Bezos is responsible for Amazon. You realise Amazon is named after a rainforest and river in South America? Do you think that every possible web domain containing the word Amazon should belong to them or be available to them? People think of “Amazon” and think of somewhere they can buy pretty much anything… they also might think of a rainforest. Should Bezos have the right to every Amazon containing domain going?

      No, don’t be ridiculous.

      This case has gone the right way and sets a precedent that companies don’t automatically have a right to a name they haven’t thought of first, just because they have some flakey trademark.

    • Reveille says

      January 16, 2016 at 5:26 pm

      Barring the “some fairly high powered people in Silicon Valley“ that you quote, like the millions of people on this planet – never heard of him!

      He will be famous and remembered though for trying to steal a domain name.

      You have to wonder if he sought legal advice before embarking on this no-hoper UDRP.

  9. Steve says

    January 16, 2016 at 4:16 pm

    @David

    Disney
    Dell
    Bloomberg
    Ford
    Gillete
    Kellogg
    Bose
    Philips

    and their eponymous founders.

    “Unknown” genius? Stephen Wolfram? If you say so.

    Tesla – “dead” scientist, indeed, and probably the greatest inventor of the 20th Century, but a terrible business man. Tesla is the hero of Elon Musk and Larry Page (who was determined not to suffer the same fate of Tesla, dying penniless, forsaken and forgotten in a hotel room, while his rival, Thomas Edison, a great inventor but even better business man, accumulated enormous wealth and world acclaim)

    I don’t agree with the decision. But I respect it — I’d wager the main point Wolfram Alpha made with the UDRP filing was not to “acquire WolframVentures.com”, but to signal to the respondent: don’t piggyback off “Wolfram Alpha” to raise capital, funding, or engage in the dilution of our “Wolfram” brand — a brand equity valued at over $10 Billion and growing.

    And, no, I’m not affiliated with Wolfram Alpha, although I have met Stephen Wolfram and his team, but I worked with Wolfram’s team on an AI project , in conjunction with MIT Media, many moons ago.

    I’m not an IP attorney. Just provided my opinion as a layman, not an expert.

    I defer to the experts, Michael Berkins, John Berryhill, Ari and other IP mavens, with regard to IP/domain matters.

    Why did Wolfram Alpha seek to obtain “Wl

  10. David says

    January 16, 2016 at 4:49 pm

    “I’d wager the main point Wolfram Alpha made with the UDRP filing was not to “acquire WolframVentures.com” ”

    Nonsense. The complainant’s attorney admitted in the case that they wanted the domain for a new business. They also offered to buy it and just didn’t offer enough.

    They decided to chance it and pay a couple of thousand bucks for a udrp to acquire it, rather than pay what the owner wanted. Unlucky. Foolish. Greedy. Call it what you like, but it’s bad business and makes them look stupid.

  11. David says

    January 16, 2016 at 4:53 pm

    Would also love to know where you get a figure of $10bn brand equity from. Given that it’s a private company, that sort of valuation is just plucked out of thin air.

  12. Steve says

    January 16, 2016 at 5:24 pm

    @David

    “Plucked out of thin air”? There’s a VC database for valuations of private companies and its assets (tangible and non-tangible). But I don’t imagine you’d access to this,.

    Makes them look “greedy, foolish.” To whom? Its investors? The users of its products, such as Siri, Bloomberg, Bing, etc? To its supporters? Just about 95% of the Silicon Valley tech community.

    I’m certain you few people outside of those involved with Wolfram, the respondent, attorneys for the case, or those persons who came across this post.

    “Trolling” this site – no, I’ve been visiting this site weekly since its inception in 2007, a blog which I find very informative.

    I respect your opinion about the decision, but I see no reason why you’d wish to denigrate Wolfram Alpha or its founder, Stephen Wolfram, by calling them “greedy” or “foolish”, for making a business decision to file a UDRP against the owner of WolframVentures.com.

    C’est tout, pour moi.

    • David says

      January 16, 2016 at 5:32 pm

      I think the udrp gets abused by firms who just want a cheap domain name. I think this is an example of that. The owner of the website had a legit reason for the domain, and Wolfrm went for it via the cheap shot of udrp. Lame imho.

      Not something one would associate with an ethical company led by a “genius”.


Recent Articles

  • Sedo weekly domain name sales led by ThisAV.com
  • CentralNic 2022 gross revenue of about USD728 million
  • Is The Rock going into politics? A couple domain name registrations point in that direction

Recent Comments

  • Charles on What is a fair sales commission rate?
  • zakaria on What is a fair sales commission rate?
  • Steve on What is a fair sales commission rate?
  • Steve on ChatGPT.net sells for $8,900 at DAN.com
  • Snoopy on What is a fair sales commission rate?

Categories

Archives

Copyright ©2022 TheDomains.com — Published by Worldwide Media, Inc. — Site by Nuts and Bolts Media