3 letters ?

Bashar · Jun 28, 2004

Hello,

i was wondering would 3 letter domain be trademarked ? for example if i own 3 letter.com or .net and i searched the uspto and found a matching for the 3 letter could they raise a UDRP.

what about if the .net is running site and i contact the owner to sell the .com or the way around they own the .com and contacting them to sell the .net? would that be considered as bad faith?

Thank you

dax · Jun 28, 2004

Hi.

Yes, 2 or 3 letter constructions can be trademarked.
However, this TM in most UDRP cases is not decisive factor because 2/3 letter constructions are mostly used as abbreviations, so they are considered as common/generic terms.
F.E.
IBM = International Business Machines Corp., but also
IBM = Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, etc.

And since domain speculation with generic terms is allowed by the UDRP, selling of 2/3 letter domains can be treated as "legitimate". Although, if it comes to the UDRP, you have to have good and experienced domain lawyer to respresent you in this case.

Domain names incorporating arbitrary 3-letter combinations, even those containing common dictionary words, may be registered in good faith and, per se, establish the RespondentÃ¢â¬â¢s legitimate interest. Tenenhaus v. Telepathy Inc., NAF Case No. 94355 (complainant not entitled to exclusive use of 3-letter combination DAF); Trans Continental Records, Inc. v. Compana LLC, WIPO Case No. D2002-0105 ("use of short terms Ã¢â¬Â¦even for sale, is a legitimate business."); Kis v. Anything.com Ltd., WIPO Case No. D2000-0770 (registration of 2 and 3-letter domain names found to be legitimate.)

namedropper · Jun 29, 2004

Three letters can be trademarked just like anything else. What matters is your intent to use it, and whether you plan to infringe, just like with any other domain.

(And, by the way, dax, Intercontinental Ballistic Missile is abbreviated ICBM.)