TM question - advice needed

[petrosc]

Hello,

I have a www typo of a very popular generic .de domain(wwwdomain.de). It is a generic word, but I am not sure if I am braking any law so I just wanted to ask here. I will give a similar example because for obvious reasons I do not want to expose the typo here. If I had the www typo of Times.com would i be braking any law? Is a generic word such as Times trademarked?

Also, times.com for example is a news site. If I redirect the traffic to my websites which have absolutely nothing to do with News, am I using the domain in "Bad faith"?

The point of this thread is that I want to know if I can redirect the traffic from that typo to a website that has nothing to do with the subject of the actual domain, and I would like to know if by doing this I am doing something illegal.

Thanks,
Petros

 

[barkingmad]

If you reg a "typo" domain of "tp?o.com" and direct it to a similar site selling "tp?o" stuff, you are toast.

If you direct it to a "Mrs.Typo.!!" site selling Mrs Typo "underwear" hoping "tp?o" will buy it, you could get lucky.

Remember, itunes.com was bought long after it was regged !

http://web.archive.org/web/19990125100358/http://www.itunes.com/

 

[Dale Hubbard]

I'm not a lawyer. I think that if you are redirecting a generic typo to a completely different subject matter as addressed by the 'real' name then you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[petrosc]

thank you all fot the advice, this helps a lot.

 

[DNQuest.com]

I answered this is another forum, so I'll just paste what I wrote before...


It would be the burden of the complaintant to show "bad faith". But similar and confusingly similar would come into play here. By adding the "www" in front of the domian, it could be shown you are looking to steal traffic from a typo. I am sure that will come up if you are challenged. Usage and intent also play a role.

Remember, many "generic" words are TMed. We all know the list.. Windows, Champion, Apple. Just because we think it is generic does not mean it is in the eyes of the law.

 

[britishbulldog]

You would lose the case if they felt you were riding on the back of the domain question by the way you cannot trade mark generic words here i the u.k,i tried and failed and this is normally the case in the whole of the e.u,you will find more and more generic domain holders winning their cases soon against the greedy corps.
I will hopefully proove this to you soon as i am expecting a result any day soon regarding a generic domain against a big corp.

 

[DNQuest.com]

Does Windows have a TM in the UK???

 

[sawan_n]

http://webdb4.patent.gov.uk/tm/number?detailsrequested=C&trademark=1512097

 

[britishbulldog]

Does Windows have a TM in the UK???

Yep !

 

[sawan_n]

Jus wondering- If one couldnt register generic words as TMs in UK, then how did MS get it?

 

[Ian]

well, i think it is very easy. being the big Enterprise that they are, the MS could perhaps use their economic might and prospects of job creation plus other incentives that come with to woo the TM authorities who are a subsidiary of the govt. other factors of course do count.

 

[sawan_n]

Allright, may be a reason for allowing them to do it...

however, i feel if any one has a legit interest (using it in commerce) in getting the TM registered for a generic name, it shouldnt be denied...

any clues why one cant reg a generic word TM in UK/EU?

 

[DNQuest.com]

Ok, so a generic word can be registered in the UK. Maybe the reason you couldn't do it is because you did have a strong presence or unique enough venture using the generic word to be given a registered mark. The same happens in the US too, registrations are refused all the time based on generic words.

 

[sawan_n]

Got that. thanks!

 

[LizzeyDripping]

My ha'penny's worth.

Windows is not a generic term used to describe an operating system. It is not generic in relation to computing. It is Microsoft's product. It is only generic in relation to, say, double glazing for example. So you couldn't register a TM 'windows' for actual windows - it is simply descriptive so anyone can use it. Not so with computing.

If you were able to register a generic term as a trade mark - i.e. I register 'cars' for car sales in the UK, nobody else in the UK can then use the word 'cars' to describe their carsales business - so how the hell can you describe what you are selling? That's why you can't register generics. But if I'm selling a beer called Cars, then I can likely register this for beer - it is not descriptive of the product. Hope this clarifies.

 

[sawan_n]

Thanks a lot, got that!

 

[petrosc]

lizzey, thanks for the clarification and welcome to our community

 

[LizzeyDripping]

Thanks guys! Nice to be able to offer something back - I'm usually the one searching for answers...

 

[DNQuest.com]

Like I said, maybe the "generic" word wasn't strong enough to earn registered status. Windows indeed is a TM in realtion to computers, but the nature of the word is generic (IE- a general English word that is in the dictionary, it is an excuse that many domainers use in defense of registering TMs.)

 

[jberryhill]

Windows indeed is a TM in realtion to computers, but the nature of the word is generic

Specifically, it is generic for a type of user interface display. Apple can say "our system allows you to work in multiple windows on a screen". Apple cannot say "we are selling a Windows operating system".

"Apple" is of course generic for apples, but not generic for computers.

But the accuracy rate of the average dnforum member's self-assessment of whether they are using a generic term in connection with its ordinary meaning is about nil.