
Ask HN: Why was Meetup.com allowed to trademark the word “meetup”? - Meetup
There are numerous examples of companies such as Hotels.com that tried to trademark their domain name, and were unsuccessful.<p>Why is Meetup.com allowed to have ownership rights of a very common English word that simply describes the service they provide?<p>According to Meetup.com&#x27;s trademark guidelines, &#x27;The word &quot;Meetup&quot; and the other Meetup Marks, such as our Logos, designs, slogans and names are registered trademarks or trademarks of Meetup, Inc. in the U.S. and&#x2F;or other countries.&#x27;<p>IANAL, but to me, this seems highly anti-competitive because it suggests they could sue anyone who uses the word &quot;meetup&quot; to describe a... meetup. Or sue a competitor that called themselves &quot;FantasticMeetups.com&quot; for example.<p>See:<p>1. http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mbbp.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;generic-trademark<p>2. https:&#x2F;&#x2F;help.meetup.com&#x2F;hc&#x2F;en-us&#x2F;articles&#x2F;360001655932-Meetup-Trademark-Guidelines
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keiferski
According to Dictionary.com, the specific noun “meetup” (as opposed to the
verb “to meet up”) was actually popularized by the company.

 _Origin of meetup 2000-05; meet1 + up, popularized by Meetup , name of a
website_

[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/meetup](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/meetup)

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Meetup
If the difference between the trademarked word "meetup" and the non-
trademarked term "meet up" is a single space, somebody could register a domain
like "meetupwithfriends.com", call their company "Meet Up With Friends" and
not face litigation from Meetup.com?

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chung-leong
The company that chooses to call itself "Meet Up With Friends" had it coming.
The English language has a gazillion 4-word permutations. Why choose one that
overlaps a well-known mark? In a civilized society people stay out of each
other's way. If I've taken this spot then you go take some other spot.

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dronescanfly
That's what this whole argument is about.

Why on earth is it OK that this spot could have been taken at all?

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chung-leong
It's an argument about nothing. A trademark is a repository for a company's
reputation. A new company has none. If it's unable to use its preferred mark,
no harm is done. That is, of course, unless its intention all along is to
steal the limelight of another.

