We Buy Houses trademark fight

Sterling WhitePro Member
Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2014 · 554 posts · 153 votes
9y
Interesting. I never knew this phrase was trademarked @Larry Flanagan.
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Jeff B.
Buy & Hold Owner · Redlands, CA · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
9y
Not worth the bother - -
Unless you have a national brand in Real Estate, just what advantage does a TM provide compared to the investor 20 miles away?
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Larry Flanagan
OP
Investor · Midwest, USA · Member since 2012 · 204 posts · 33 votes
9y
Yes it is trademarked somehow. Others have posted regarding issues @Patrick Appau @Andrew Herrig
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Russell BrazilBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
9y
You know the holder of the TM is a BP member right? So he will probably see this. Also they likely have a lot more money than you do to spend on court costs.
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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
9y
@Russell Brazil my last real estate brokerage was Real Estate Executives I used to get nasty grams from Realty Executives legal council.. just filed them in the circular file.. unless they were going to litigate which they never did .. I just kept on with the name.
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George P.
Property Manager · Livonia, MI · Member since 2011 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
isnt the "happy birthday" song trademarked )or someone wanted to do it) too??
silliness. the "let's get ready to rumble" phrase is trademarked though.
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Larry Flanagan
OP
Investor · Midwest, USA · Member since 2012 · 204 posts · 33 votes
9y
Originally posted by @Russell Brazil:

You know the holder of the TM is a BP member right? So he will probably see this. Also they likely have a lot more money than you do to spend on court costs.
Yes I'm aware. This is not my fight but I support the effort. "We buy houses" should not be a protected trademark.
I asked a patent attorney friend about something similar a few years ago. He replied "You cannot protect marks that are merely descriptive. You cannot prevent others from using those same descriptive words. You need to choose a trademark\service mark that is not merely descriptive of your services."
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Larry Flanagan
OP
Investor · Midwest, USA · Member since 2012 · 204 posts · 33 votes
9y
Bump.
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Brad Chandler
Wholesaler And Coach · Springfield, VA · Member since 2011 · 169 posts · 75 votes
9y
what you don't get is its great to throw his demand letters in the trash - but what do you do when he gets your youtube vidoes, facebook page and linkedin taken down????? We have started a campaign to cancel the trademark. He took down 100+ of my highly ranked youtube videos.
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Brad Chandler
Wholesaler And Coach · Springfield, VA · Member since 2011 · 169 posts · 75 votes
9y
thank for the post @Larry Flanagan! I hope people will support it.
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Larry Flanagan
OP
Investor · Midwest, USA · Member since 2012 · 204 posts · 33 votes
9y
How goes the battle Brad?
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Account Closed
Investor · Princeton, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
@Russell Brazil Good point, he is a member here. I was wonder if anyone else was regularly using that phrase in their advertisements before he did.
I think this is his profile...
https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/jbrandt
His profile says he has been buying SFR since 2002.
His website says the terms have been used since the "mid 1990s."
It was"published for opposition" in 2002. I wonder if anyone protested his application then.
It really does not matter to me one way or the other. I do not want to use the phrase.
Since I have met him, I will say one thing. He normally looks more like his profile picture than the bad picture of him the haters use online.
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Wayne Brooks
Real Estate Professional · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2012 · 23k+ posts · 13k+ votes
9y
They used it, they trademarked it, newbies wanted to jump on the phrase as it caught on....tough sh$t, it's trademarked.
3 Reply
Levi T.Pro Member
Rental Property Investor · Tucson AZ / Nice FR / Washington DC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
Ever heard of "Just Do It", Nike owns it.
The guy has a great marketing phrase, and trademarked it. You just need to suck it up and accept that your 12 years behind the height-ball on this.
If your so upset bout it, quit crying over it and make a better one, or buy it off him. lol
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Peter MckernanBusiness Member
Residential Real Estate Agent · Irvine, CA · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
Yeah, the trademark of the saying is really silly, but once someone gets that locked in for their IP then they have the rights to do whatever they want if someone uses it and they want to pursue them. It’s such a blanket saying, so anyone could be saying it and no would ever know until it’s posted right here on BP. @Larry Flanagan
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Nick Sabat
Investor / Borrower / Contractor · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2016 · 60 posts · 29 votes
9y
Falls under the Blue Sky - when you try to claim that you own the sky and people must pay you just to breathe, I think you are very shady. IMHO! Next, you open yourself up to a lot of litigation - I think most people would desire to avoid any litigation - anyone who would try to claim ownership to the Blue Sky, is nothing but a trouble maker, dramatists, coldhearted and greedy.
The other problem lies with those who decide to give credence to these submissions of ownership of names and phrases - the Trademark Office. They should be held to a higher standard of intelligence - the knowledge of knowing whether or not a phrase is a generally used phrase by people in a particular industry or not. Then, originality should also be considered or prior use.
As far as I can remember, people have used this phrase - back as far as the '80's. Use of this phrase is so prevalent in many markets - it should not be TradeMarked!
Sad!
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