Just Creative Design

Beware of the Net Trademark Registration Scam

I have recently been contacted by a domain registration company (HK N R S) from Hong Kong who said that I would lose my domain name if I didn’t register it with their “net trademark” system.

At first I took this quite seriously however after a bit of googling I found that I am not the only one who has received an email like this. Anyway, I went along with their ploy to see how it would fold out and below you can see some of our email communication… thought I would share this with you guys so something like this does not happen to you.

You may also want to read about my experience of being banned from my own website or David Airey’s experience of being hacked via the Google Email Phishing Filter Scam.

Dear Just Creative Design,

HK N R S Ltd creates high-impact and professional services for intellectual property right of users. Our center protects company profile and their internet products information by protecting net trademark and domain name.

An organization submitted a formal application to our auditing department to apply for this word “justcreativedesign” as their net trademark on 14 May,2009.

According to the above facts, I send you this Attorney Letter to confirm the ownership rights for this net trademark. We checked that you are real trademark owner. This is why we inform you. You have a priority to register the net trademark. If you give it up, the applicant will get the registration and own it legally for ever. I request that you must make a confirmation in fifteen business days. Fifteen days are our auditing period from the day you receive this letter.

If you wish to gain further information about HK N R S Ltd, its activities and net trademark information, you may view web site at www.hkh.hk.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation about this matter.

Sincerely,

Schacter.ji
Schacter.ji@hkh.hk
www.hkh.hk
HK N R S Ltd

I then replied:

Hello Schacter.ji,

I confirm that justcreativedesign and the trademark is owned by me and I have the ownership rights to it.

Please do not sell or give ownership of this to anyone else. Can you please clarify what you mean by this phrase: “You have a priority to register the net trademark.”? Do I have to register it?

Thanks.

Regards,
Jacob Cass

Then they replied:

Dear Jacob,

Thanks for your reply.

We know you are the trademark owner, so you can register earlier than the applicant. Registering is good for you. Net trademark and trademark are different. Trademark is registered under the government’s check and ratify. If any organizations and individuals didn’t register, you can register. Net trademark can be registered and used openly in the world. First register first get.

In this situation, I offer two ways to deal with this matter:

1.use law to protect your own intellectual property rights. Start a lawsuit against applicant and pass the court’s rule. But it needs lots of time and money.

2.ask us to register for you to protect. You are the trademark owner, so you have the priority to register the net trademark.

Usually we suggest clients choose the second way. Thinking of time and money, the second way is the best.

In accordance with the regulation of our country, we are working for the protection of intellectual property with our clients. Net trademark is part of intellectual property rights, so I strongly suggest that you register to protect this net trademark. If you confirm to register, I will send an application form to you. If you have any questions or requirement, please contact me.

Best regards,

Schacter.ji

I then replied:

Hello,

Can you please send through this form and what country is this for?

And what actually are we registering, just the name “Just Creative Design?”

Regards,
Jacob Cass

They then replied:

Dear Jacob,

Now I send you the registration procedure and service fee.
The price is 1118USD/one/5years, 2000USD/one/10years, 3680USD/one/20years.

The registration process of net trademark as follows,
1, You confirm to register this net trademark. Then we will send an application form includes a remit account number to you.
2, Fill out application form and send it back to us by E-mail.
3, Once getting your payment, we would immediately repeal the third-party’s application and start your registration. The registration will be finished within 15 business days. After that, we send you net trademark registration certificate.
Please contact us if you have any questions.

PS:Sorry. I can’t offer the applicant’s information because you are not our customer now.

schacter.ji

I have not since replied. I will update this page if anything else comes from it.

Have you ever experienced something like this? Please do share.

Donate & Win A Free Logo

Since the 7th of February 2009, more than 200 people have lost their lives and close to 2000 homes have been lost due to ferocious bushfires here in Australia. This is one of the worst natural disasters in Australian history.

I am trying to do my part for something that I feel very close about (we nearly lost our home in 1994 due to bush fires) and I thought I could do this by running a small competition here on Just Creative Design.

I am giving away a free logo design to one lucky winner who enters the competition. Entry into the competition will consist of a $10+ donation to the Australian Red Cross.

For those who do not want / need a logo, please leave a comment on this post and I will personally donate $0.50 per comment that is left over a 1 week period.

Or if you just want to donate, please donate directly to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal however if you are wishing to enter the logo competition please read on as you will have to make payment to my PayPal account so I can track the entries. I have previously raised USD$1620 through this blog so your donation will be in safe hands - 100% of all proceeds will go to the Red Cross.

To enter the free logo design competition, please make a $10+ donation by clicking the donate button below. Leave a comment or email me telling me why you need / deserve the logo. On March 16th I will announce the winner.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Update: Thank you everyone who donated, the victims of this disaster will be extremely grateful!  The winner of the free logo design was Adrian Belfast, who I have emailed. I also upped the original 50cents to 1 dollar for my part - thank you once again!

Below you will find a tribute video to the those affected by the Victorian Bushfires and below that, some images of the bush fires, courtesy of The Big Picture.

A fire truck moves away from out of control flames from a bushfire in the Bunyip Sate Forest near the township of Tonimbuk, 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of Melbourne, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. Walls of flame roared across southeastern Australia, razing scores of homes, forests and farmland in the sunburned country’s worst wildfire disaster in a quarter century. (AP Photo)

Flames and smoke rise from a bushfire in the Bunyip Sate Forest west of Melbourne, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. (AP Photo)

A Country Fire Authority (CFA) Sector Commander looks up at a giant fire raging in the Bunyip State Park near Labertouche, Australia, on February 7, 2009. More than 40 blazes raged across two states as a once-in-a-century heatwave pushed the mercury as high as 46 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) with fire bans in place across much of the south-east. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images).

A general view of the devastation from the Peats Ridge Valley bushfire on February 9, 2009 in Peats Ridge, Australia. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Small acreage is burned out in Kinglake, northeast of Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Craig Kidd looks at the melted metal of alloy wheels from his burnt out vehicles after a bushfire swept through his property on February 9, 2009 in Bendigo, 160 km from Melbourne, Australia. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

The burnt remains of a house are left standing in the aftermath of a bushfire on February 3, 2009 in Boolarra, approximately 200 kms southeast of Melbourne, Australia. (Luis Ascui/Getty Images)

The remains of properties destroyed by bushfires are seen in the town of Kinglake, 55km (34 miles) northeast of Melbourne February 8, 2009. (REUTERS/Mick Tsikas)

Family members react after learning that their parents Bill and Faye Walker and disabled brother Geoffrey were killed in wildfires in Marysville, north of Melbourne, Monday, Feb. 9, 2009. (AP Photo)

A fire truck moves away from out of control flames from a bushfire in the Bunyip Sate Forest near the township of Tonimbuk, 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of Melbourne, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. (AP Photo) #

For more information please visit the Australian Red Cross Victorian Bushfire 2009 Appeal.

Logo Designer Blog Give Away Winners Announced

A big thank you to all the sponsors and those who have been promoting the new Logo Designer Blog. Here are the winners of the prizes from the competition. Congratulations!

I’ve contacted the winners & sponsors via email.

Winner: Josiah Jost
Prize: USD$50 credit at Think Geek, courtesy of the kind OfficeHax AND an awesome piece of artwork (11?x14?) done by the talented Darlene Lee, be sure to check out her work! Very inspiring! Darlene is also on LinkedIn.

Winner: Fabian
Prize: 1000 business cards courtesy of the kind Jeremey Duboys from AllBusinessCards, a quality online print shop!

Winner: Brandon Meier
Prize: Any tshirt from DesignByHumans*.

Winner: Bev&Catey
Prize: One free month advertising (125×125) on Logo Designer Blog.

Winner: Christhian Bedon
Prize: A caricature drawing of your wishing, courtesy of Ben Capozzi who is a very talented political cartoonist!

Winner: Francois
Prize: A CMYK clay pack from the kind Michel of BlackEye.

Thanks again everyone! Stay tuned for a great typography post coming up later tonight.

Win Prizes + Logo Designer Blog Follow Up

Just incase you didn’t already know, there are still heaps of prizes up for grabs and it’s very easy to enter, plus not many have entered so you have a very high chance of winning. Ensure you check out the post linked above before it’s too late!

On another note, I would like thank everyone who has the promoted the new Logo Designer Blog site, we have already had over 10,000 visits, 22,000 page views and 460+ subscribers in just 6 days.

Here are some articles that got quite a bit of attention:

• 5 Recent Rebrands That Caused The Most Upset by Chris Spooner
• Logo Designs After The Recession
• Discover The Dot Grid Book for Logo Designers

Anyway, why don’t you subscribe to Logo Designer Blog?

What to get a designer for Christmas or Birthday?

This was an article that I wrote last year but I thought it would be a good time to revive it from the archives, so here you go.

If you really want to please your designer friend this Christmas or on their birthday I suggest getting them one of these presents below.

What to get a designer for Christmas / birthday.

• New Books (Or a voucher for a book store that sells graphic design books - you can never have enough books)
• Pens & Pencils (Different sizes, colours)
• A Large Clock
• Graphic Design Magazine Subscriptions
• Computer Goods… for the rich friend
  
  • More RAM
  • Screen Calibrator
  • New Video Card
  • New Mouse - I recommend Logitech MX Revolution
  • New Computer (Mac or PC?)
  • New 24″ or 30″ Monitor
  • A Second Monitor
  • New Cordless Keyboard
  • New Software (Adobe Creative Suite)
  • Software Updates
  • Wacom Digital Graphics Tablet
  • Scanner
  • Multi Function Printer
  • A Massive External Hardrive (Make sure it is in terabytes)

• Multi Card Reader
• Multi USB Connecters
• Drafting Table
• Lightbox
• Paints
• Art Paper / Canvas
• Pantone Swatches
• Sketch Pads / Moleskine (Big, Small and/or Gridded)
• Easel
• Blank Canvases or Folders
• Post It Notes
• A Digital Camera
• iStock Credits (or other stock sites)
• Designer Tshirts
  
• Music
  • CDS
  • iTunes Shop Credits
  • New Speakers

Here is a list of 50 gifts under $50 for creatives.

Add your own wish list / suggestions in the comments below

USD$1620 Raised For Charity + Prize Give Away Winners

First off I want to thank everyone for your donations, promotion, support and generosity - the project was a success, allowing us to raise $1620 for charity.

In total there was exactly 200 entries, 148 donations and 52 articles submitted.

So now your probably wondering who the winners are? Head over to the original post and look for the names under each prize sponsor. Please contact the prize sponsor to claim your prize unless otherwise noted. If you have any troubles at all please contact me and I will help you out. Please also let me know if you do not want the prize so I can pass it on.

Congratulations to all winners and for those who missed out, stay tuned because there are more giveaways coming up very soon.

Please have a look around the sites below and once again, thank you!

Read more »

16 comments thus far »

$400 Raised So Far | Donate or Write To Win Your Share of $11,000!

Just a reminder to get your entry in to the $11,000 Prize Giveaway Design Group Writing Project For Charity.

So far there has been $400 donated from just 20 (very generous) sponsors - if my maths is correct, that is an average of $20 per donation which is great, however, I am still quite disappointed… 20 donations from a subscriber base of 9350+ subscribers is quite a low number… in fact, very low.

I have also only received 3 written articles from non-blog-owners and 7 articles from blog owners. That makes a total of 30 entries… and there is 67 69 different prizes up for grabs!

My point? Donate now or get your articles in because you have an extremely good chance of winning some sweet prizes!