2014-09-08

You should have taken that $10 million, kid

News of the weird from startup land--*Twitpic shuts down over trademark dispute, blames Twitter--

First a little history--TwitPic - Wikipedia: "TwitPic was launched in 2008 by Noah Everett. In an interview with Mixergy, Noah Everett revealed that he had been offered a price in the range of 10 million US dollars for his company but he declined the offer."

Fast forward to the present--Twitpic is shutting down | Twitpic Blog: ".... We originally filed for our trademark in 2009 and our first use in commerce dates back to February 2008 when we launched. We encountered several hurdles and difficulties in getting our trademark approved even though our first use in commerce predated other applications, but we worked through each challenge and in fact had just recently finished the last one. During the “published for opposition” phase of the trademark is when Twitter reached out to our counsel and implied we could be denied access to their API if we did not give up our mark. Unfortunately we do not have the resources to fend off a large company like Twitter to maintain our mark which we believe whole heartedly is rightfully ours. Therefore, we have decided to shut down Twitpic...." (emphasis added)

Implied? No suit filed, just a letter/phone call/email? This doesn't make sense. Really, ever think about changing your name/mark? There has to be more to this story (like Twitpic is losing money, can not find financing, the owners are bored and want to do something else, etc.). I don't know, but there has to be more to this story.

Ever hear of Isis? No, not that ISIS--this Isis-- Wallet app Isis changing name to Softcard: "The mobile wallet app Isis has rebranded as Softcard to avoid any potential association with the Islamic militant group bearing the same name." Notice that Isis didn't just give up and shut down?

Oh wait, there is more: Twitpic Is Shutting Down, Blames Twitt. er (Mashable): "Once Twitpic shuts down on September 25, Everett says he will focus his efforts on Pingly, a messaging app that he's been working on lately."

Oh, OK. Good luck with that.

P.S. You should have taken that $10 million, kid.

*Domain Name: twitpic.com





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