If you have or are about to purchase a domain name, YOU could be in trouble and you don’t even know it yet…
See, what the domain sellers won’t tell you is that the domain name you are purchasing or have purchased can possibly infringe on trademark rights and you can lose that domain name or even worse.
Trademark and servicemark laws apply not only off-line but on-line as well and they even apply to domain names.
Now, a trademark generally applies to goods where as a servicemark applies to services. For the purpose of this article I will refer to trademarks as the same rules apply.
A trademark can be a word, name, symbol, or device and it
...be protected if a corresponding service mark or trademark is also registered. Another protected mark is a certification mark that protects seals of approval and goods from specific sources. Examples could be the Heart Foundations Seal of Approval and Bundaberg ...
The purpose of a trademark is to prevent confusion in the eyes of the consumer relating to particular goods and services. Basically, they are in place to prevent unfair competition.
So with that said, just because you purchased a particular domain name it does not necessarily mean you have exclusive rights to it.
If there is a trademark in your domain name, the mark owner has a legal right to send you a “cease and desist” letter and possibly take that domain name away from you.
If you don’t believe a word I’ve said so far then I offer myself as
...1988. The ordinary skilled analytical chemist would have had no practical experience of that method and the ordinary skilled medicinal chemist would probably not have heard of it. In the circumstances of this case, claims 1 and 3 of the ...
For legal reasons I can’t tell you the domain name as I agreed to make no further references to it, but there were two words in my domain name that were associated with a trademark.
Now, I wasn’t aware of this when I purchased the domain name. And I definitely wasn’t aware of trademark laws.
Don’t be ignorant on the subject like I was. You can avoid any potential problems by educating yourself and thereby preventing the samething from happening to you.
Don’t make the same mistake that I did!
Do your research before you buy a domain name and make
...translations (if necessary), etc. The second step is a comprehensive search of US National Common-Law files. This entails searching all incorporation records, all fictitious name/DBA records, Dun & Bradstreet (R) records, product announcements, newspapers, company directories, etc. If the research ...
There are trademark search engines where you can type in a word or a phrase and it will tell you if it is a trademark.
You can visit the United States Patent And Trademark Office (USPTO) website to do a trademark search: http://www.uspto.gov/
Now, in my case I chose not to fight the trademark dispute and gave up my domain name voluntarily. I felt it just wasn’t worth the time, money and headaches to launch a fight over this.
If this should ever happen to you, you do have rights and there are proper channels to go through to settle the dispute. Contact a lawyer who specializes in this field.
And
...appeal. Consequences for Patent Application Filing Strategies The new rules change the number of claims that can be filed in a given patent application. Now, only 5 independent claims and/or 25 total claims may be filed unless an examination support ...
There are numerous cases all over the internet concerning disputes over trademark and domain names.
Don’t you be one of them…
If you would like more information on the subject of trademarks and domain names then I highly recommend you visit this website: http://www.chillingeffects.org/domain
This article and any links associated with it are for informational purposes only and not intended as legal advice. As always, speak to an attorney who specializes in this field in the
...about 4 months of filling, the applications are reviewed and corrections or objections are outlined which must be catered to by the applicant within 6 months. In case the objections are still not clarified, the application could be abandoned. However, ...
Al Martinovic is the publisher of the Millenium Marketers Newsletter where you will find powerful concepts, killer strategies, useful tips and no bull business advice: http://www.milleniummarketers.com
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment