The term Realtor® is TM.

[redomainer]

Hi All,

I'm fairly new to the site but have been domaining for many years and have been a Realtor® for over 12 years. I see fellow domainers buying/selling domains both in this forum and many other places with the term Realtor in the domain.

I had RealtorHouston.com registered years ago and the legal counsel from the Nat'l Association of Realtors required me to give it up.

I personally believe it's ridiculous that this term was ever allowed a trademark from the start. However, just wanted to give a heads-up to fellow domainers so they don't spend a lot of $ for names with the term and then are forced to give them up later.

Just curious, is it well known by domainers that the term is TM?

Bill

 

[acesfull]

Hi All,

I'm fairly new to the site but have been domaining for many years and have been a Realtor® for over 12 years. I see fellow domainers buying/selling domains both in this forum and many other places with the term Realtor in the domain.

I had RealtorHouston.com registered years ago and the legal counsel from the Nat'l Association of Realtors required me to give it up.

I personally believe it's ridiculous that this term was ever allowed a trademark from the start. However, just wanted to give a heads-up to fellow domainers so they don't spend a lot of $ for names with the term and then are forced to give them up later.

Just curious, it is well known by domainers that the term is TM?

Bill

It is even in the dictionary as a trademark.

 

[petrosc]

yeah just read this in the dictionary. I had no idea this was a mark used only by the National Association of Realtors

 

[dnalias]

RealtorHouston.com is for sale?

 

[intellect]

This is good advice. NAR is pretty vicious about this TM.

 

[garyrcanuck]

Thanks for the info. I was aware that realtor was TM, but I assumed that a Realtor could use the name, similar to what you used Bill. But I was wrong. I have a couple of domains with Realtor in them, but not developed, so I will just drop them.
It really seems that every other word in the English language is Tm'd.

 

[arpitgosai]

Realtor is a trademark although many domainers have domains which has term "realtor" and many domains sold also. It is good to keep them with you and try to sell until the association send you C & D.
Advantagerealtors.com sold for $14,000. How it was possible if they take the domains from everyone ?

 

[jberryhill]

Just curious, is it well known by domainers that the term is TM?

It gets posted here from time to time. While NAR members can use the mark, the NAR also has a set of guidelines for its use by members in domain names.

Outside of the US, YMMV.

 

[smashfactory]

but wouldnt realtor be considered genericide?

 

[redomainer]

Arpitgosai-

I should clarify. A real estate firm can use the term within certain guidelines. The firm I work for was using HeggRealtors.com and this was within the NAR guidelines (although we are now using Hegg.com after convincing my broker to spend $2400 to buy Hegg.com from BuyDomains-easier for our clients to remember and looks better in the ads).
Looking back, $2400 wasn't a bad buy.

It's my understanding a non-Realtor can't use the term and as an agent I can't advertise as "Your Sioux Falls Realtor", SiouxFallsRealtor.com, etc.
A list of the rules/guidelines can be found at:
http://www.realtor.org/letterlw.nsf/pages/trademarkmanual.

 

[jberryhill]

but wouldnt realtor be considered genericide?

This proposition was recently tested by a domainer seeking cancellation of the NAR's marks at the USPTO. He lost spectacularly.

 

[WeBuyThe.Com]

So if you are a Realtor (NAR member) are you allowed to market your business using State-or-city-Realtor.com?

 

[jberryhill]

So if you are a Realtor (NAR member) are you allowed to market your business using State-or-city-Realtor.com?

That exact question is already answered in the link that redomainer provided.

 

[Dave Zan]

I personally believe it's ridiculous that this term was ever allowed a trademark from the start.

Why?

http://www.realtor.org/libweb.nsf/pages/fg002

In 1949 and 1950 respectively, the Patent and Trademark Office registrations for the term REALTOR® and the REALTOR® emblem were approved. Dictionary publishers began to list the definition of "REALTOR" as a member of the National Association in 1967.

And while not exactly authoritative:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realtor

However, in the United States the National Association of Realtors has registered the word REALTOR (which the NAR prefers rendered in all caps) since 1950 as a trade mark.

Unless I'm missing something, REALTOR seems to qualify as a trademark.

 

[smashfactory]

so someone in italy can have a site with the word realtor in it and use it on the web?



It is imperative that Members and Member Boards work together and with the National Association to avoid all uses of the MARKS which may suggest to the public that, without regard to his membership in the National Association, a REALTOR® is simply a provider of real estate related services.


isnt that what has in fact happened? if you ask just about anybody what a realtor is, they will simply say, someone who sells real estae?

 

[katherine]

so someone in italy can have a site with the word realtor in it and use it on the web?

TBH I don't think the word realtor® is pretty much used outside the US.
Saying that, this is the type of name that could confuse the newbies as they may think that because it's a dictionary word TM does not apply...

 

[smashfactory]

riht, but since the web is world wide, could an person in italy have a site, say called RealtorNews.com, based out of italy, but service usa realtors?

 

[Raider]

Interesting.....I always thought the term was generic.

 

[Focus]

realtors suck

 

[PRED]

realtors suck

what's their hourly rate? :smilewinkgrin: :-#:

as far as realtor, didn't know was a tm.
we dont use in UK anyway, but i know in US a big term.
thought was dictionary.

that's 2 things i learned today :smilewinkgrin: