Three generic letter .com that stands for a generic term, can i trademark this?

[niceguy]

Some hypothetical scenarios/questions:

(This has nothing at all to do with seo.com - but seo.com and the phrase seo is an excellent example for my situation.)

1. If I own SEO.com (i dont of course) - can I use my ownership of the domain name to trademark the acronym SEO as search engine optimization? Or is the phrase "Search Engine Optimazation" a generic term now?

2. If I cannot trademark the phrase "Search Engine Optimization" AS IT relates to the Acronym "SEO". Can I trademark the term "SEO" - without stating the reason for the trademark - as in just trademark the three letters together - or do I have to be specific about the context or industry or specific use that those three letters are being used for?

3. Can I trademark the phrase "SEO.COM" (note i have added ".com" to the phrase)? Is there any value in trademarking a term like that? Does it protect me or increase the potential value of the domain name in any way? For example would it prevent an company that specializes in "Search Engine Optimization" from being able to go after the domain.

4. If I had the trademark in any of the above scenarios - would I be "safe" in approaching companies to sell the name, that specialize in Search Engine Optimization?

5. In question 4 would it make any difference if I had any trademark? or does it even matter.

I would appreciate your educated comments on this. I am waiting for a legal opinion from a famous domain lawyer - but they are all very busy these days

Peace,
Tarry G

 

[YODD]

While your waiting for a lawyer to reply ... would you kindly share that 3 letter domain ... how can we comment when we do not know those 3 letters ... it could be IBM or JOB or GMC ... or FED ect. so many scenarios are of course possible.

Thanks,

Lorenzo

Some hypothetical scenarios/questions:

(This has nothing at all to do with seo.com - but seo.com and the phrase seo is an excellent example for my situation.)

1. If I own SEO.com (i dont of course) - can I use my ownership of the domain name to trademark the acronym SEO as search engine optimization? Or is the phrase "Search Engine Optimazation" a generic term now?

2. If I cannot trademark the phrase "Search Engine Optimization" AS IT relates to the Acronym "SEO". Can I trademark the term "SEO" - without stating the reason for the trademark - as in just trademark the three letters together - or do I have to be specific about the context or industry or specific use that those three letters are being used for?

3. Can I trademark the phrase "SEO.COM" (note i have added ".com" to the phrase)? Is there any value in trademarking a term like that? Does it protect me or increase the potential value of the domain name in any way? For example would it prevent an company that specializes in "Search Engine Optimization" from being able to go after the domain.

4. If I had the trademark in any of the above scenarios - would I be "safe" in approaching companies to sell the name, that specialize in Search Engine Optimization?

5. In question 4 would it make any difference if I had any trademark? or does it even matter.

I would appreciate your educated comments on this. I am waiting for a legal opinion from a famous domain lawyer - but they are all very busy these days

Peace,
Tarry G