

Settle is now Droplet - wgx
http://willgrant.org/settle-is-now-droplet/

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robinwauters
For what it's worth, iZettle got back to me with a statement after I covered
this on The Next Web:

"Being a startup ourselves we always encourage entrepreneurship, including
innovation in the payments space. In this case, unfortunately, their very
similar company name – in combination with also being in the same industry-
risked confusing both our and their users. We believe that changing their name
will benefit the both of us and we wish them all the best with Droplet."

Link: [http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/08/13/mobile-payments-
sta...](http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/08/13/mobile-payments-startup-
settle-forced-change-name-droplet-izettle-drops-trademark-complaint/)

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grabeh
I prefer the new name in any event but that doesn't take into account the
goodwill you have built up with the old name. The problem is the lack of
certainty over the outcome of litigation. Clearly iZettle have at least an
arguable case that there is a risk of consumer confusion but obviously it
requires a court's determination to provide certainty.

The problem is that the larger entity is more likely to have the resources to
engage in litigation which in itself means smaller entities are less likely to
fight back.

Trade mark litigation is often costly due to the need for survey evidence to
show confusion amongst consumers. One benefit of going via OHIM (rather than
the courts) is that costs are limited in this regard and you can get an early
determination from OHIM as to whether there is a likelihood of confusion
between the marks.

For example, if you applied for the 'Settle' mark at OHIM, and iZettle
challenged, you would have limited costs exposure to the other side if you
lost (although on the flipside, limited recovery if you won). Somewhat besides
the point in the current case but I thought it an interesting point to include
in my comment.

At least the existing trade marks incorporating 'Droplet' are in much more
dissimilar areas so you are less likely to face issues with the incumbents.

<http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ohim?ohimnum=E10714392>
<http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ohim?ohimnum=E9331851>

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wgx
Goodwill is definitely an issue. It's with regret that we had to move on from
'Settle', but as I said, we need 100% focus on our product at the moment.

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grabeh
Sounds like you have the right attitude. Good luck for the future.

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tehwebguy
Wow, that is frustrating. iZettle is a pretty terrible name which makes this
even worse.

Just checked to see if zettle is a Swedish word for settle, nope.

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dotcoma
A bit like if Apple sued somebody whose company were named pod.com, or
phone.com...

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highace
That sucks. Settle and iZettle, for me, are easily distinguishable. I'd be
fuming.

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mbreese
You aren't the person courts worry about when talking about trademarks...

I don't know the history of iZettle or Settle, but it seems like iZettle is
much further along. I don't know about UK trademarks, but iZettle applied for
their US one in 2011. I didn't find a "Settle" mark at all in the US. Given
all of that, and that they are both in the "payment processor" category, I
could easily see a court siding with iZettle on this one.

Still sucks to have to change a name though...

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JSadowski
Droplet in itself isn't a horrible name... but for your product it is. One of
these days I'd love to see somebody stand up to a baseless claim like this,
despite the costs that might be involved.

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sch1zo
Am I the only one who immediately associates apps/services starting with
"Drop" with Dropbox?

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tjlivesey
I think it's slightly different because droplet is an actual word in itself.
If it was drop-pay (bad example), then I might agree.

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sch1zo
I knew droplet is a actual word but my brain made the link nevertheless. Maybe
it's because english is not my first language

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3stripe
Dropbox Dropmark Droplet Dropsend

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alexyoung
That could be a real scenario. "I'll just Dropmark this file stored on
Dropbox, and also Dropsend it to my colleagues, then I'll Droplet the client
for payment."

