Hi all, I purchased a couple of domains thinking to put up ebay listings on them (and earn some EPN commissions from them) today. Only after the purchase was done, I then realised I could possibly be sued for trademark infringement. Well, all the domains have the big corporate name in front, ending with "forsale.com" for eg. samsungforsale.com or chevyforsale.com My concern is, will I get sued for owning and operating those domains? If yes, I'm helping them promote their products, they should be happy about it, why sue me? Your expertise is very much appreciated...
Not all companies persue trademark infringement, though many do. You won't get sued at first, you will get a letter asking you to cease using the domain. Why would they not want you to promote their products? Well, they have no control over how you represent their products, plus they have spent a lot of money trademarking, creating and marketing those products. If I were you I wouldn't use those domain names, will only get you into trouble especially if the sites take off.
Well, its difficult to say. Some companies don't even bother to look into it while some are very proactive. It entirely depends on the circumstances and the company. If its not more than 3 days since you registered them, ask your registrar to cancel them. But before that ask them how much refund they will give. If they are not going to give any refund, better way is to park them. That's the safest method.
I guess you don't mind others telling you how you should be happy. But not all appreciate that, more so if those others are doing something that's potentially infringing their legally-established rights. Anyway, I agree with the other two it depends. But many big companies are very protective of their trademarks, especially since those are responsible for their commercial success. Unless you have permission from those big companies, and it's highly unlikely, then it's up to you if you wish to play the game or not. Be ready for what can happen. As long as you register a domain matching especially a uniquely famous mark, coupled with putting any hint of commerce in it, you're practically guaranteed to lose the domain name...or worse. There's enough decisions, UDRP or legal ones, involving domains with parking pages that lost.
This can be considered as trademark infringement. You may get sued by the trademark owner. However, it depends upon the company as to how proactive they are regarding this matter.
Domain name ending with "forsale.com is pretty generic, I don't think it should infringe trademark of the corporates those using them in the ending of their domain name.
Well, as I said, it completely depends on the company and how proactive they are. I have earlier given this example. In India, there's a very popular company called Tata (tata.com). Someone had registered a domain tatas.com and used it as a porn site. Tata came to know and they took objection. The domain owner removed the contents. But now that domain is forwarding to another porn website. And I am quite sure that Tata must be aware of it. Its not necessary that such type of domain will be taken away. The basics is that as long as you do not use any contents which defames the company's, its product/services or its reputation, its not a problem.
Even if you do get a warning mail asking you to remove the domain name, you can always argue that you are a wholesale seller of their product and save your domain. I don't think companies as huge as these would actually depend on the internet market privacy for their profits. Do keep us informed in case you get any complaint/warning from any of the companies.
It's not the foresale.com part that's the issue. It's the trademark before that that's the problem, coupled with the OP's stated intent for them.
There is a reason that you were able to register those domains...it's not because you got lucky, it's because most webmasters and domainers wouldn't touch them with a 10 ft pole. Companies spend billions to develop and market their brands properly, they are not happy when others decide to mess with that carefully crafted and expensive image. If you think that you can promote their products better than the professionals that they hire, maybe you should apply for a job with them...other than that...You will probably get into trouble by using them, depending on how you use them...and since they are now on Ebay, the cat is probably out of the bag. There are domains in use with trademarked names in them such as car forums, and fan sites that seem to operate just fine..I guess the big determiner may be how you use the domains.
this maybe true for some giant companies but then, you all have the right to buy those domains. it only depends on how you tweak the domains' content (websites) if it will benefit then or not. Now if not and you are already hurting them then that is a problem I think.
Since you just purchased them today, I would see if you can drop them & get a refund from your registrar.
MySpaceFriend.Net is a good example of what not to do. Clearly the only purpose of that site is to make a dollar off of the name "MySpace". =) Thanks Tom!
Yes those are def infringing & too risky for most folks. Not worth it imho try to get a refund if possible.
I also recommend the refund way. Investing more time and money into these domains is quite risky since the trademark's owner could wait until you develop the traffic of them and then fetch them from you through the courts.
The bottom line is yes - if your domains are using trademarked names, those big companies will not hesitate to spend the $15k to take you to court (I happen to work for one, we crack down on cybersquatters on a constant basis). Especially if it's a company like Panasonic or Sony...or any of those Fortune 500's....
Yes. If I were in your shoes I would immediately take the sites down and release the domain names. It's not worth risking it.
Well to be frank I feel none of those domain are really like infringing any copyrights.. Comeon.. If someone had sue that then they gotta slog their ass till they prove that actually your domains or the sistes are like hurting their image or business or somehow !! Are they ?