On Monday, we uncovered the name of former Facebook CTO Bret Taylor's new startup, Quip.
Now, thanks to an eagle-eyed reader, we have some idea of what it's up to.
Taylor's company has applied for a trademark on the word "Quip."
Here's how the application described what "Quip" was:
Computer software; computer software for mobile devices; computer software to enhance personal productivity and facilitate collaboration; computer software for use with mobile devices to enhance personal productivity and facilitate collaboration; computer software that enables individuals at different locations to work on, modify, comment on, update information, documents, and databases in real time from remote locations; computer software for use with mobile devices that enables individuals at different locations to work on, modify, comment on, update information, documents, and databases in real time from remote locations
Providing temporary use of online non-downloadable computer software; providing temporary use of non-downloadable computer software for mobile devices; providing temporary use of non-downloadable computer software to enhance personal productivity and facilitate collaboration; providing temporary use of non-downloadable computer software for use with mobile devices to enhance personal productivity and facilitate collaboration; providing temporary use of non-downloadable computer software that enables individuals at different locations to work on, modify, comment on, update information, documents, and databases in real time from remote locations; providing temporary use of non-downloadable computer software for use with mobile devices that enables individuals at different locations to work on, modify, comment on, update information, documents, and databases in real time from remote locations
Taylor and his lawyer, Connie Ellerbach of Fenwick & West, appear to have moved swiftly to secure the trademark. In September, Taylor registered his company in California under the name Backchannel Inc. On December 7, the registration for Quip.com changed hands. Backchannel filed for the trademark on "Quip" on December 14.
So what does this tell us about Quip? Parse the legalese, and what you get is something that sounds a lot like Google Apps, or the collaboration and productivity tools offered by startups like Box and Asana.
Before joining Facebook after it bought his startup, FriendFeed, Taylor spent years working at Google, as did his Quip cofounder, Kevin Gibbs.
TechCrunch also noted the trademark registration in its followup to our initial report about Quip.
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