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Fark Seeks to Trademark NSFW

Posted by Zonk on from the not-so-freaking-wise dept.

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The term NSFW is about to join the :( emoticon, going from a generic, oft-used internet abbreviation, to one company's exclusive trademark. Fark is seeking a trademark on the use of NSFW to describe naughty online content. Of course, they may face a bit of a battle because more than a few other people are already using the term NSFW to describe their products and services. Not that that's stopped anyone in the past." And, of course, the whole thing could be a big practical joke.

7 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. Regarding the submitter.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Just for the record GNU do believe in 'imaginary' (intellectual) property. You must be thinking of this organisation.

  2. NSFW by olm911 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Go to Fark and read about it. It is just a joke.

  3. Re:Even if it is a joke... by VirusEqualsVeryYes · · Score: 5, Informative
    As a regular Farker, I think it's safe to assume that there's no malicious intent behind this. Seriously, read the linked blog entry:

    About the NSFW Trademark Application, I can say three things:

    1) Yes, we applied for it.

    2) Can't comment on the prank angle other than "stay tuned."

    3) Muhahaha.
    Does that sound remotely serious to you?

    One of two things will happen. One: the trademark is granted, Drew gets some laughs, lawsuits, and the TM gets taken away. Or two: the trademark is denied from the beginning. Either way, this TM is not going to hold up for obvious reasons already cited in the summary.

    I don't think this is opening up any sort of Pandora's box. With or without this development, trolls will TM random shit regardless. We just have to hope that the system corrects itself -- which, in general, it has.
  4. Y'all don't understand trademark law. by CygnusTX · · Score: 5, Informative

    First off, the original post is wrong. The guy is not trying to trademark NSFW to describe naughty online content. The application is for the provision of entertainment services. To complain about this application is very much like complaining about someone trying to trademark the word "Apple" for computers and electronics. Oh my, but who would do that? If the application is registered, it would not take NSFW out of the public domain of posts and the like. It will just prevent the COMMERCIAL use of NSFW for the provision of entertainment services. So, if one of you wanted to use NSFW to sell, say, a cologne, you still could. And you could prevent others from doing so by registering the trademark.

  5. Re:You've got it all wrong! by Cornelius+the+Great · · Score: 2, Informative

    Technically, it's :-( that's trademarked, not :(

    And both trademarks appear to be jokes. Despair, Inc does use the trademark as their logo (although it was Scott Fahlman who first used it in 1982). I don't think prior art works for trademarks.

    IANAL, but I'm dating one ;-)

    --
    Sigs are for losers
  6. Re:Even if it is a joke... by RyoShin · · Score: 5, Informative

    The stupid thing about this is how a few months ago fark went from being fairly open about NSFW imagery, to banning anyone that links to or posts it. Apparently they can make more money by being family(or workplace) friendly.
    I'm sorry, but: what?

    I've been a member of Fark for quite a few years now (five digit ID, aw yeah), and they have always been against the NSFW postings. You could never post actual NSFW images in the discussion forums, even for discussions of a NSFW link. You could link to stuff, but only if you had large notices that the link was NSFW. If something is questionable, they remove it anyway.

    Even on the TotalFarker side (who are the only ones that can comment on Boobies links now) you can't post anything like that. Images are auto-disabled for "Adult content" links, too.

    Drew has generally tried to keep Fark a place that could be browsed at work, uncaught by language and porn filters. This isn't new. They may have cracked down on porn links recently, but everything else is old hat.
  7. Re:Submitter here. That's too true... by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 2, Informative

    The cost to file a trademark is like $25.

    Oops. Look like you mistyped that. The cost to file for a federal trademark is $275 (or more, depending on the details).

    You can see the PTO's current fee schedule here: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/qs/ope/fee2007september30.htm

    --
    -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.