An Appeal to the community: Help us Crowdsource our Product Name
by Scott Annan on November 28th, 2008This is an open appeal for your help.
As you probably know, we are just about to launch a new website that will completely change how professionals and companies manage their professional network. It’s like a really smart, connected address book that tells you who you should call and when. We think its a revolutionary service and a major improvement over the way most companies currently manage their “customer database”.
As part of the product development process, we had to name our new “baby” and after several months of debate, we finally settled on the name DEX.
Last week we received a “Cease and Desist” letter from a law firm representing “Dex Media“, the company that delivers yellow pages online and to your door, telling us that it was illegal to use a name that was similar to theirs. After seeking a lot of advice and soul searching (crushing), we have decided that we cannot afford to fight this allegation, even though we believe it is false.
This kind of reaction by established businesses needs to change. While we have openly blogged about our process and as we try to develop our product collaboratively, they pay a team of lawyers to “monitor the internet” and guard them against other people. I think that lawyers and businesses need to update their “cease and desist” letters from aggressive and threatening warnings to “inform and engage” letters that seek to educate and engage their “potential competition” and their customers, and that they need to get involved in the ongoing dialog that is taking place – whether they are listening or not.
Well, while they’re trying to protect what they have, we’re going to use this opportunity to open up and collaborate even more by “crowdsourcing” a new name for our product. In case you’re not familiar with the term, crowdsourcing is when you use a network of people to accomplish a task that is often performed by an employee or agent (then called “outsourcing”). Over the last five months we have received some fantastic ideas and inspiration from all of you who have been following our development process and I think this is the perfect way to engage you to complete the story.
In our business – much like other businesses – a catchy product name is paramount to success. So, please take a minute to visit the crowdsourcing product page and recommend a smart product name or vote for one of the names that have already been submitted. It would help us in a really big way, you’d be showing “big business” that cooperation is a viable alternative to protectionism, and you’d be doing your not-so-small part in helping the little guys prevail.
Thanks.
Tags: cease and desist, crowdsourcing, dex
November 29th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
[...] After receiving a cease and desist letter for use of the trademark ‘dex’ for their CRM s… [...]
November 29th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Hi Scott, interesting idea about crowdsourcing for a product name, great for brainstorming that’s for sure, already so many great ideas submitted.
As you have already experienced, picking the right name is important if only as a check for legal and trademarking purposes that will prevent a costly rebranding later on. Picking a name should not be taken haphazardly or lightly, the consequences are real from branding, marketing, legal and other perspectives just to name a few,… Naming takes time, effort, and experience, it only appears easy.
I’m not sure what your product does, or know much about CRM, (that might good for bias-free ideas), but as you referred to it as a “Revoltionary” web product, i think it would be fitting that such a product carry a revolutionary name, that will help its customers sell you, and not a mediocre one that will be a liability.
As a name designer, i have a portfolio of brandable names that you are welcome to take a look at (namer.ca/domains ) and see if any would be of interest to you. Alternatively i’d be happy to work with you on a custom name design, or answer any questions you might have.
cheers,
Oyster
November 30th, 2008 at 12:10 am
dexatron, with ‘tron’ usually meaning the acceleration tool
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 am
Despite the frustration, it’s probably wise to drop it… Dex Media runs its Dex Knows websites. It’s trademark is registered with the USPTO – the statement of use reads “Computer services, namely, providing on-line telephone directories via the global computer network. FIRST USE: 20040100. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20040100″. Considering you’re planning an enhanced business directory of sorts… I can understand why they’d get nasty.
Best of luck on the renaming!!
December 4th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Hey Scott,
My main issue with contacts for me is I run multiple relationships based on the multiple lives (circles) I live in. I found MS Outlook worked well when attached with Publisher… I changed laptops and now can’t find the freaking discs…so it’s taking me a lot, lot, lot of time to get anything from microsoft…
will there be some sort of publisher tool attached?
Gotta love the cease and desist letters… you almost feel like taking the first flight to the moon or you can use it to light campfires since they are typically written in thick strudy laywer paper!