If you have or are about to purchase a domain name, YOU could be in trouble and you dont even know it yet...
See, what the domain sellers wont tell you is that the domain name you are purchasing or have purchased can possibly infringe on trademark rights and you can lose that domain name or even worse.
Trademark and servicemark laws apply not only off-line but on-line as well and they even apply to domain names.
Now, a trademark generally applies to goods where as a servicemark applies to services. For the purpose of this article I will refer to trademarks as the same rules apply.
A trademark can be a word, name, symbol, or device and it is used to distinguish and indentify the goods and services from one person or company from that of another.
The purpose of a trademark is to prevent confusion in the eyes of the consumer relating to particular goods and services. Basically, they are in place to prevent unfair competition.
So with that said, just because you purchased a particular domain name it does not necessarily mean you have exclusive rights to it.
If there is a trademark in your domain name, the mark owner has a legal right to send you a cease and desist letter and possibly take that domain name away from you.
If you dont believe a word Ive said so far then I offer myself as proof because it happened to me. I recently lost one of my domain names under this exact same circumstance.
For legal reasons I cant tell you the domain name as I agreed to make no further references to it, but there were two words in my domain name that were associated with a trademark.
Now, I wasnt aware of this when I purchased the domain name. And I definitely wasnt aware of trademark laws.
Dont be ignorant on the subject like I was. You can avoid any potential problems by educating yourself and thereby preventing the samething from happening to you.
Dont make the same mistake that I did!
Do your research before you buy a domain name and make sure there is NO trademark associated with that name.
There are trademark search engines where you can type in a word or a phrase and it will tell you if it is a trademark.
You can visit the United States Patent And Trademark Office (USPTO) website to do a trademark search:
http://www.uspto.gov/
Now, in my case I chose not to fight the trademark dispute and gave up my domain name voluntarily. I felt it just wasnt worth the time, money and headaches to launch a fight over this.
If this should ever happen to you, you do have rights and there are proper channels to go through to settle the dispute. Contact a lawyer who specializes in this field.
And dont even think for one minute that this sort of thing cant happen to you. Trust me. If you have a trademark in your domain name it is only a matter of time before you get that letter in the mail like I did.
There are numerous cases all over the internet concerning disputes over trademark and domain names.
Dont you be one of them...
If you would like more information on the subject of trademarks and domain names then I highly recommend you visit this website:
http://www.chillingeffects.org/domain
This article and any links associated with it are for informational purposes only and not intended as legal advice. As always, speak to an attorney who specializes in this field in the event of a dispute.
Al Martinovic is the publisher of the Millenium Marketers Newsletter where you will find powerful concepts, killer strategies, useful tips and no bull business advice:
Domain names to the internet are the as necessary as wheels on a car. All websites need a domain name; it is how your website is found on the internet by your potential customers. It is your unique identifier and two organizations can not have the same domain name. Your domain name is not really purchased or bought; it is actually leased for a year to 10 years.
Choosing a good domain name requires some thought, because picking a good name may be an important factor in getting return visitors to your site. You will want to keep it short and to the point, no more than 14 letters. This can help reduce the chance of a visitor mistyping your site and ending up on another site.
It is a good idea to choose a domain name that reflects the type of business you plan to do. You will use the name often in your website and if done right it can help you with promote your site with the search engines. What are some tips for choosing a domain name
Tip 1 - Buy it early. Take a day or two to decide on your name. Think it through, but, dont procrastinate. Over 30,000 domain names are sold a day. Dont let someone else beat you to a good domain name.
Tip 2 - Buy your name in .com and .net. Lets say you buy domain name KCBBQ.com. Your competitor, who also sells Kansas City BBQ sauce, knowingly buys KCBBQ.net and maybe even KCBBQ.biz. Why would he do that Isnt he limiting his own business by getting a name similar to yours and wont he confuse his customers Dont think your competitor is innocent. He has just engaged in a domain name trick! He is not planning on conducting his primary business under these names. He bought those names to TAP into your business! Avoid this common newbie mistake and buy all the necessary domain names to protect your interests.
Tip 3 - Buy alternate domain names. Domain names are so cheap that it is affordable to practice this tip. Lets say you decide that you want to also buy KCBBQ.com and .net why not purchase KC-BBQ.com and .net. These other sites wont go to waste. You can point these sites to your main domain name KCBBQ.com and increase the traffic to your site.
Tip 4 - What if all good domain names are taken You should consider buying a previously owned domain name. As we mentioned before domain names can be purchased for multiple years. Sometimes the lifecycle of a website comes to an end and the domain name already has a good page ranking with search engines. You can effectively buy yourself traffic without any work.
Tip 5 - If at all possible dont choose a domain name that is close to competitors, just because you like the name. For example, if there is a web hosting company called domainexpress.com, it is not recommended that you pick domain-express.com. Take some time think it out, but, dont wait too long picking your internet identity. It is a necessary exercise in defining your buisness and it can be fun. If you dont like it, the worst thing that can happen is that you -sell it; There are profits to be made in doing that too!
Tariq Giaziri
Head Developer