Rearz attempting to trademark the term "ABDL"

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edward321 said:
Actually they're cheaper than ABU
Case of ABU Simple (plain white)$105 CAD
Case if Rearz InControl+ (eqalivant to ABU Simple) $85 CAD
Rearz are way more expensive in the US. A case of 36 Safaris costs $108 USD, a case of 40 LittlePawz costs $85. Plus mediums and larges for Safaris (from CooshieTooshiez at least) cost extra.
 
This reminds me a lot of when the NFL tried to trademark the Fleur-de-Lis, it was insane to think they even could because how can you trademark the literal symbol of a whole identity and ethnicity? But sadly, there's no politician around to stop trademarking "ABDL" no matter how many people's identity is being stolen by this company. It's pretty sad too, they put on such an air of being a face of our group, only for them to turn around and try to screw us all over. Smh.

Of course if they're not trying to screw us and their competitors with this move, then I have to wonder about their intelligence. It's like, how do you not know how intimately familiar any internet based group is about trademark and copyright strikes? Even if it's not altogether an accurate understanding, it's a triggering understanding with how this sort of thing has been going down of late. They have to know a move like that's going to make us all angry? How do you not see that coming?

I just don't like the only options here being they're evil or they're stupid. They weren't a company I purchased from often, just being from the US it makes it hard to buy from them, but they were a company I pay a lot of attention to, including their Youtube and Twitter stuff. So I need them to be better than that.
 
Foxroxsox said:
I read it, got angry, posted...
Then i read it again, and started thinking about this kinda sideways...

So maybe this isn't a bad thing. Maybe. And here's why: They claim the term ABDL is banned from a lot of places for being offensive. And that's probably true. You can use LBGT to tag your lifestyle choice in many places, but not ABDL. By getting a trademark on the term, many of the large social media and online markets will be put in a position where they can't ban the term outright without facing face legal action.

Lets use another term to show an example.. If you had a Fried chicken restaurant called "Tasty Cock", you would have a very hard time getting any advertisement space on google. Google is going to see "Tasty Cock" and filter it hard. Your business is never going to make it onto a normal search page, and you'll see your competitors doing much better than you when potential customers search for "tasty chicken restaurants in my area" on Google, or maps, or by asking the Google assistant.

However, if you get your name trademarked, "Tasty Cock®", then you can go to google and tell them to knock it off. They are showing preferential treatment to other restaurants, and hurting your business by blocking your legally registered name. And google would have to stop filtering you out of searches. They can't arbitrarily play favorites. It's the same with Facebook, Ebay, Amazon, etc..

So that appears to be exactly what Rearz is doing. They are turning ABDL into ABDL® so that companies like Google can't filter it out when it's used as a company name or product description. And after reading their statement again, they have stated they will let anyone use the name. that's significant. It counts as an end user agreement to allow you to use the trademarked name. And by putting that out their publicly, it's a done deal. they can't go back and claim exclusive rights to the name now. We all have license to use the ABDL® trademark by their statement:
"**We are willing to allow others to have free use of the ABDL trademark, like stated above this is to help combat the banning of the term in commerce."


This may actually be a very very good thing.

That argument still falls apart because A: If ABDL being trademarked means they can get around advertising restrictions, that still only benefits Rearz because only they can use the term, and therefore only they get advertising, creating an unfair advantage over their competitors, and B: Even if they said they'll allow free use of ABDL, they lose the trademark if they don't enforce it. And the way they lie, deflect, and throw other companies under the bus in their statement doesn't bode well for their supposed good intentions.

EDIT: Also, ABU and Tykables have both stated on Reddit that they haven't had any of the problems Rearz claims to be combating. Though I doubt they're trying to get advertising space outside of kink sites that would allow it anyways.
 
Confusing.... So, does that mean if I post a pic or post and say the word or use it has a tag or something that has the word ABDL on my blog I can get sue or my post deleted?🤔😑
 
I just can't see how this strategy can be good for Rearz. Even IF they win this, the backlash from the ABDL community means that it can only do WAY more damage to their brand and business.

I just wanted to wear a great diaper with cool Safari animals on it.... I never signed up to be part of a war :(
 
Marka said:
-no-

You're not selling anything and, you're not representing yourself or, your works - as though it were them... (or, their products).
-Marka
Thanks! But still, this is totally wrong for a company to try to copyright a term it did not even come up with 😒. Really bad for the community. 🤐
 
First off, thank you ArchieRoni for your expert explanation and background information.

Rearz's explanation mentions The ABDL Shop having a trademark. I looked it up and found that they have a registered service mark for "The ABDL Shop". A service mark provides protection for a brand name or slogan, while a trademark protects a product name. The ABDL Shop's service mark allows them to try to prevent another store from calling themselves "The ABDL Shop". Rearz's trademark on ABDL diapers would allow them to control others selling ABDL diapers, just as other companies can not sell Q-Tip cotton swabs. Rearz's misrepresentations on this makes me question what else they are misrepresenting. All in all the negative pushback looks like they made a major mistake no matter what their intentions were.

ArchieRoni, I would gladly accept any corrections if I'm in error here.
(I'm not a lawyer, this represents only my understanding.)
 
So if they do manage to pull this off will we all end up paying more for ABDL products?
 
Terryboy said:
So if they do manage to pull this off will we all end up paying more for ABDL products?

More than likely other companies would stop calling them "ABDL," finding some other term that means the same thing.
 
Vic92 said:
More than likely other companies would stop calling them "ABDL," finding some other term that means the same thing.

Probably change to "DLAB" product?
 
ArchtopK said:
Trademarks are terms used on products. Simply using the term on a product could grant trademark status if they use it with the TM identifier. That would be required, as you need to inform people of your intentions. Of course you can try to register the mark, and if approved that would let you use the R in a circle mark as well as grant you greater protections towards infringement. But none of this would prevent anyone from using the term for what it is known for. But it would prevent anyone else from selling a similar product with that name. Frankly, i don't see the plus side to any of this. I would rather sell something that appealed to a wider group, just from a profit point of view. Why limit yourself to such a narrow niche. Same reason I don't understand why Northshore is openly calling Crinklz Adult Baby Diapers. Why do that? Just call them diapers with animal prints.

You can claim a trademark, but you can't actually get any rights in court if the trademark is generic or merely descriptive. This use of ABDL is both. It would never stand up in court and it shouldn't even be granted registration.

RearZ's explanation is horeshit. That's now how trademarks work.

- - - Updated - - -

RearZ's application is very early in the process. It's going to be a while before it is even looked at by an examiner and then it has to be published. It can be challenged at each step. I've already filed my opposition. I published the link to how in a previous message.
 
I'd rather they spend their money on designing diapers. Instead of this nonsense.

...In other news, I'm going to be Trademarking the letters "PVAZ"!!

Why..? Hell if I know! I'm just trying to jump on the bandwagon here...
 
After reading ArchiRoni's explanation I'm not upset at Rearz anymore...

But I do kinda wish ABDL wasn't the term used ... 'cause it's ugly and cumbersome... if if someone did "steal" it, maybe we could call ourselves something cute and fun!
 
I’d just boycott them. Hit them where companies seem to only have any feeling these days, in the pocket book.
 
Rearz have lost my business that's for sure. I had spent quite a decent amount of money with them in the past and had thought about more, but I'd rather give my money to an ABDL company that supports the community and doesn't try to own our identity/what we identify as. Even trying to own the term is sick and twisted and isn't in the spirit of ABDL. Plenty of other diaper companies to use.
 
RJDodger said:
And as everyone expected, Rearz abandoned the application

http://rearz.ca/blog/abdl-trademark-dae722/

...so is this a victory for ABDLs or a defeat...? In the end, that acronym is still banned from the online marketplace, at least as far as mainstream ads are concerned.

LGBTs had to fight a lot of battles before they became socially acceptable in most places, and there are still many places where being openly "anything-but-straight" is still heavily frowned upon, or even dangerous for one's well-being and/or personal freedom.

I don't mean to compare apples and oranges, but assuming we believe Rearz on what their intentions were (ie.: that they'd not actually enforce their trademark, which in sum means their battle would've benefited everyone else, too), it was a still a battle in favor of diminishing the taboo/stigma associated with the fetish everyone here enjoys, was it not?
 
I’m glad to hear that. It was an incredibly Douch-y move. If the bottom line is your only be-all end-all, it will cause you to do horrendous things like this application. Glad to hear they came to their senses.


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