Help with the word My > > possible problems ?

[QuantumBeam]

I have a client who would like to host a 3 word domain with the domain beginning > > (example) Myblankblank.com
I have informed the client that there is already a major website with the domain (example) blankblank.com live and active.
My question is:
Is'nt this a possible case waiting to happen ? Could'nt the owners of (example) blankblank.com come after him once the site is live and he is trying to use Myblankblank.com ? The client is in the exact same type of business as the company that owns blankblank.com
Even though my client is not copying the business site, I am just concerned the domain itself is not a good idea because both domains are the same type of biz.

Thoughts & explainations are welcome so I may forward this issue to my client. I really need a few previous cases that have already occurred to show him this is not a good idea.

Thanks all

 

[jberryhill]

A major part of the answer is going to hinge on whether "blankblank" is distinctive for that type of business.

For example. Purina sells dog food.

MyPurina is going to be a problem.

MyDogFood is less likely to be a problem.

The difference is that MyPurina incorporates "Purina" which is a distinctive trademark for dog food. MyDogFood, on the other hand, incorporates "Dog Food", which is the generic term for dog food and is not distinctive of any one source of dog food.