closed copyright ?? question

[dotcom]

is it worth looking for domains that successfull business have failed to register??

or would they challenge it and get it anyway.

ive noticed tonight after searching a whole heap of things, and found a few high profile companies that dont have a web site or registered the name.

thankyou
mike

 

Its a trademark issue not a copyright one.

The trademark strength comes from a few factors, whether its registered, whether its a coined/fanciful term and whether the companies are "famous".

If the domains aren't generic/descriptive/common terms - then you could fall foul of tm laws and udrp rules.

 

[dotcom]

thanks safesys, what about this one

i dont mind posting it and someone grabs it, on the off chance its worth getting. it probably may well be worth nothing.

WWW.BOARDOFEXECUTORS.COM

 

Well, its a descriptive term - but in new zealand it seems to be a prominent organisation, so its not an easy call (especially if you are in nz yourself)

 

[Whois-Search]

www.boardofexecutors.co.za

www.boardofexecutors.nz

 

My bad, it was the .co.za one I saw - its south africa not new zealand.

 

[domainduck]

Check your name for trademarks before you register them.

http://tess.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=english&p_d=trmk


Click on: New User Form Search (Basic)


quack

 

[mole]

Originally posted by domainduck
Check your name for trademarks before you register them.

quack

Good advise that needs reminding, quack. By claiming you have checked the USPTO, you have a strong case for good faith.

 

[alldig]

THE TRADEMARK ISSUE:

Register a name that presents a trademark issue only if it gets
25 + uniques a day. The traffic will pay off your registration
fee and by the time the company confronts you about the trademark you will already have money in your pocket. The company might not even confront you so keep the DNS servers resolving and you will keep the cash flowing.

 

[mole]

Originally posted by alldig
THE TRADEMARK ISSUE:

Register a name that presents a trademark issue only if it gets
25 + uniques a day. The traffic will pay off your registration
fee and by the time the company confronts you about the trademark you will already have money in your pocket. The company might not even confront you so keep the DNS servers resolving and you will keep the cash flowing.

That's a very utilitarian approach, alldig.

If you want to be labelled a cybersquatter by the court of law for a lousy couple of bucks, then go ahead. This short term gain could tarnish your business reputation in the mid-long term.

 

True, an obvious tm infringe could weaken your defense of a legitimate (and more valuable) generic if presented to show a pattern of abusive registrations.

 

[IPatlas]

Originally posted by safesys
True, an obvious tm infringe could weaken your defense of a legitimate (and more valuable) generic if presented to show a pattern of abusive registrations.

This one reporter registered McDonalds.com and gave out [email protected] as his email. I think what ticked off the food giant lawyers was the email. Had he claimed he'd never been or seen a McDonalds restaurant (and used the site to promote farm animal stories or baby rhymes) he could ve gotten away a little longer, me thinks. J/K Wait a minute, who owns "Old McDonald had a farm"?

 

[IPatlas]

Originally posted by safesys
True, an obvious tm infringe could weaken your defense of a legitimate (and more valuable) generic if presented to show a pattern of abusive registrations.

This one reporter registered McDonalds.com and gave out [email protected] as his email. I think what ticked off the food giant lawyers was the email. Had he claimed he'd never been or seen a McDonalds restaurant (and used the site to promote farm animal stories or baby rhymes) he could ve gotten away a little longer, me thinks. J/K Wait a minute, who owns "Old McDonald had a farm"?

 

[mole]

Gotta sleep now, I'm starting to see double.

Good night!

 

[Duke]

trademark

I was searching for help on this topic and came across this fascinating forum - and this particular thread that addresses my situation. Within the past 2 months I have registered several domain names, mostly for use with my own projects, with a small number for possible re-sale.

This morning I placed a registration order for a .net name that was a made-up word (combining two common words). I noticed that all other TLD's were registered for this word, but was not bright enought to consider the possibility it was a trademark. I have never heard this name before and just thought it was a clever combination of two words.

I have since learned that all of those TLDs are registered by the same company and there is a registered trademark on the name (actually two registered trademarks from different companies!). The odd thing right now is that my order, placed 5 hours ago, is still listed as processing at my registrar. This has never happened before - it has always been instantaneous. If you look for the name it is still showing up as available as well.

Personally I would just like to have the order cancelled as I do not want to get into any trademark issues. However there is no way to cancel. If the order is finally processed and the name is registered to my account what would those of you who have experience in this field do with the name?

 

[Duke]

Update to above:

I have just received confirmation from my registrar that the name in question has been registered to my account (I have no idea why this took hours!).

So now my dilemma is a real one. What would you do in my situation (this was an honest mistake). What should I do if contacted by the trademark holder. I would be willing to transfer it to them to avoid a problem. Is it fair to ask for a nominal fee for doing so to cover my registration costs. What amount would you ask for - registration fee only, or a small amount more?

Pardon all these questions from an obvious newbie! I will check all trademark possibilities in the future to stay out of such sitiuations. Again this is not a commonly known name but a trademark does exist.

 

[David G]

Originally posted by domainduck Check your name for trademarks before you register them. http://tess.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=english&p_d=trmk Click on: New User Form Search (Basic) quack

Good idea to check for Trademarks. It's amazing how many words and terms are trademarked, seemingly almost every one you can think of.

The US Govt URL is a difficult one to use. Here is an easy to remember website with a link to it plus some trademark information -

http://www.PatentAndTrademarkOffice.com

 

[Duke]

Thanks for the tip RealNames. By the way I moved this topic over to the Domain Registration Discussion as it is more appropriate there than here in Appraisals. I started here because a search had brought me to this copyright questions thread.I am getting some good advice in the Regsitration group so if anyone else has trademark issues to discuss, please help us out over there.

 

[izoot]

If you have real concerns about this.

A simple solution is to just drop the name.

No harm ... no foul ... all yor out is the registration fee.

We all get itchy trigger fingers every now and then.

Just curious what name is it?

 

[IPatlas]

Question....
The rullings (when the tradamark registrant wins a case against a "squatter") on trademark dsputes often end with the phrase "that the domain be transfered to the [party filing the complaint}."
THis is a silly question but doesn't is sound like the owner who lost the case has to worry about transferring the darn domain name to their rival? It sounds brutal. You loose and you have to do transfer paperwork to the big pockets...SOmething to consoder beforehand.. not only you ll loose but you will be humiliated as well