Simple forum has its name - we are glad to announce that
miniBB is now a registered trademark in United States Patents and Trademarks Office, thereby internationally. Most probably some of you have already noticed the "miniBB" wording has an R letter in the circle near it, that means this mark is actually registered in the USPTO.
As it's stated in USPTO's documents:
What is the difference between TM and the R within the circle ®The federal registration symbol, the R enclosed within a circle, may be used once the mark is actually registered in the USPTO. Even though an application is pending, the registration symbol may not be used before the mark has actually become registered. The federal registration symbol should only be used on goods or services that are the subject of the federal trademark registration.I would specially mention that by current moment miniBB appears to be
the only one free open source forum software's trademark actually registered in USPTO. So far nobody from our team is informed about kind of forum script developed on such level. If somebody of you knows about the branded forum program, we would be glad to know about the main competitors ;-)
The registration process took more than 16 months, and the trademark registration refusal we've had during this process at the beginning looked like an uphill battle. But if you believe in what you're trying to achieve and know your rights to fight - as we do - you are just few steps from the victory.
I very appreciate the advices and instructions of two independent lawyers we've hired to solve the trick, Mara Uzulena from "Petersona Patents Agency" and Matiss Davis Kukainis, and specially I am very thankful to miniBB's examining attorney from USPTO, Ms. Pamela Hirschman, for her very professional and quick job.
And of course
we appreciate the help and support of every miniBB user and customer - without you it wound't be possible to move further and continue to work on it all.
Registration of miniBB brand actually means we have planned the strong support and development of this project for at least the next 5 years, and it could be kind of warranty for our regular and premium customers, that our forums program will stand separately from those neverending scripts, being more oriented to something long-term and stable.
Federal registration also proves the unique side of our project and its highest quality development level.
Thank you all again. Peace \/ :-)
