Looking up jw.org on a "who is" search shows it is registered through March 6th, 2013
The date of Armageddon?
Why does JW.org need a registered trademark?
by cedars 35 Replies latest jw friends
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Broken Promises
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cantleave
The WTBTS is not a religion, it is commercial organisation purporting to be a religion.
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Balaamsass
Remembering Watchtower roots and how Rutherford grabbed power?
Ex-Jws are not organized, but I think some at Bethel think they are. Paranoia. The whole Kingdom Hall land grab smacked of paranoia. CONTROL of all meeting places (physical and virtual) was more important than reducing liability.
Cedars, perhaps they think you and a few others will lead a revolt!!!!
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JeffT
I don't blame them at all for copyrighting it. As noted above it protects them from having people like us putting their logo on all our stuff.
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maisha
How about someone go to www.godaddy.com and back ordering the url of jw.org
they just might forget to pay the update!...
lol
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maisha
I find that very amazing that the reg is only to march next year.
that for a big org is dangerous...
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cedars
Balaamsass
Cedars, perhaps they think you and a few others will lead a revolt!!!!
They would be right!
Cedars
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DavePerez
Maisha said-
I find that very amazing that the reg is only to march next year.
that for a big org is dangerous...
Nope, not dangerous. That would be an example of "cyber-squatting", a well-known problem in the past before the internet really took off. What happened was some bright early adopters registered trademarked names (say, exxon.com) in the hopes of hitting pay-dirt when Exxon finally decided to set up a website, only to discover someone already owned the domain name, and demanded a jackpot to sell the domain. However, courts (and Congress) closed down the scam when they decided that owning a trademark trumps the ICANN registry, rendering the ICANN registry rights worthless. So WTBTS is simply following standard business practices by registering the trademark (and even domain name) to protect their assets, eg if someone were to "back order" the domain name: it would be a waste of their $$$ to do so.
BTW, as a rule of thumb, it's generally best not to assume that successful businesses and religions don't know what they're doing, unless you have PROOF that they don't. They have lawyers to protect their interests, and know intellectual property law better than most others. Instead, it's more helpful to assume they know what they're doing, and then ask WHAT they know that you don't.
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Christ Alone
The letter is the box logo look a lot like adobes creative suite logos. I assume they will have a new logo for everything and not just the jw.borg site. They will probably all be similar to this logo and all the logos will need to be trademarked. It's not the site that is trademarked, just the logo.
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blondie
I was told that the WTS had not trademarked the phrase "Jehovah's Christian Witnesses" and another organization did and 1984 was the last time other then an individual's quote that the WTS used it (once in 1986 in a question).
*** km 4/79 p. 4 Announcements ***
Is it appropriate to have a Kingdom Hall sign saying: “Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses”? So there will be uniformity, the Society encourages all to make their signs read: “Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
*** km 4/09 p. 4 Question Box ***
Is it appropriate for congregations or individuals to use the logos of legal corporations used by Jehovah’s Witnesses?
A logo is a name, symbol, or trademark designed for easy and definite recognition. The Watch Tower logo is representative of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and other corporations used by the organization. The Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses uses an open Bible in its letterhead. Other corporations used by Jehovah’s Witnesses have different logos.
Congregations or individuals should not use logos or names of the organization’s legal entities, or variations thereof, on their Kingdom Halls, signs, letterhead, personal objects, and so forth. Such use of the organization’s logos may cause confusion for public officials, publishers, and others about the legal affiliation of the congregation with the organization’s legal entities. Similarly, written correspondence could be misinterpreted as being approved or sent from the world headquarters or the branch office.
The Watch Tower logo, or a variation of it, should not be used in future Kingdom Hall projects even if the Kingdom Hall is owned by a Watch Tower entity. Congregations with existing Kingdom Halls that bear a logo are not required to make immediate changes to signs or designs, since such changes may involve major alterations and much time, effort, and expense. However, consideration should be given to making a change if it would be minor and would not require extensive work. Otherwise it can be made when the building or sign is scheduled for renovation.