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by arjie 13 days ago
The timeline just seems like two different brands wanted the name. atSign was using atProtocol as their thing. And trademarks are defend-or-lose. That AT Proto would grow so much more than atSign is just a thing we know now. They were both contemporaneous and it doesn't seem to have been some kind of gazumping operation so much as two groups landing on a name.
1 comments

Yeah, the much more common scenario with startups is exactly what happened here:

1. you choose a name for your product, start using it

2. you try registering it as your business starts to materialize

3. "oh shit we weren't the only ones who picked that name"