I have a fans forum that talks about a company product, the site was setup to help owners to how to better use their product, just like a discussion forum, in this example xbox360. As an example, something similar to www.Mocrosoft-Xbox360.com I have disclaimers and everything setup saying it's not endorsed or affiliate with microsoft. The site has been up for over 1 year, and no issues at all, in fact, it's getting quiet popular. In case if microsoft try to claim the domain name, will they give me a warning first and telling me I have to give up the domain name? or will they just file a lawsuit without send me any notices? I have see almost all cases, that the companies send you a noticed first ask you to give up the domain, if you don't comply, then they will file a lawsuit, because lawsuit are expensives. Am I wrong?
normally they will ask you to transfer that domain to them first some time they will try to sue also if they find any competitors ads on the domain
If the domain contains their trademarks as shown above, it is trademark infringement and the domain can be taken with a WIPO action or lawsuit. Microsoft has no obligation to notify you in advance or ask for the domain. Generally speaking, if you are talking about owning a single infringing domain (vs sitting on a whole bunch of infringing domains) they will ask for the domain before going further. As Microsoft can take the domain whenever they feel like it, and considering they have been increasing their legal actions against domain trademark infringement, you might want to consider changing the domain name (one that isn't infringement) and pointing your old domain to the new. This will give you time you let your regular visitors bookmark the new domain. If you wait until you hear from Microsoft, they aren't likely to give you time to redirect. The more popular your site becomes, the bigger the target.
Thanks for the reply, they are good advices. I think my site is basically given them a huge help because it's basically peer-to-peer support for their product. There's nothing illegal on the site. I never created the site under bad faith. So I don't know if they would really bother to come after me, after all, I have made their product more popular as is. I haven't seen anyone that good sued without any notices, so I was just wondering anyone here had that.
The legal definition of bad faith is different from what you are thinking. If you created the domain after their trademark or if the domain deals with their product or usage, it is bad faith. It doesn't make a difference if you are helping them, not talking bad about them, making their product more successful, etc., it's still trademark infringement and they have a legal obligation to enforce their mark. Microsoft has over 20,000 domains, most of which were taken or turned over by former owners that were infringing upon their mark. As I said, I doubt they will sue you without contacting you, but you won't be able to keep the domain/traffic while you move the content to another site.
good point. right now i am just taking a risk, because my page rank is really good. if I move to another site, my page rank will dropped to 0. oh by the way, microsoft is actually advertising on my site through a third party ad agency, not sure if they really ever know about my site. Maybe I could use that to protect myself as well as since the site has been up for over 1 year. But i like your idea as a backup plan.
It doesn't matter is your site was up for 10 years if their trademark was established before you registered the domain. Their ads running on your site actually puts you at a big legal disadvantage. Domains have been take for solely that reason because if shows you were getting income off of their trademark. If you do a 301 redirect to a new domain, the page rank will pass to the new site as long as the old domain is redirected it. Of course you should start doing link building only to the new domain because if they take the infringing domain, the redirect will cease.
Too risky and not worth it. On the other hand, I never understood why sites like PhotoshopForums.com ever made it. The guy who owns that forum just wrote a book on forum management (I'm still reading it), and he never mentioned anything about the legality of his domain name.
That is not something you shouldn't do. It makes their case of bad faith and will be used against you if they take legal action. If they had a marginal case for infringement before, you just tipped it in their favor. Some trademark holders may pay a nominal fee because it is cheaper than bringing legal action against you, but others won't pay you a cent, and you're screwed at that point.
Microsoft unlike other companies have VERY clear guidelines as to how you are allowed to use their trademarks such as "windows" , "xbox" similar. If you follow the guidelines on this page you should mostly be ok http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/trademarks/usage/general.mspx As long as the domain itself doesn't confuse users of your site into thinking you are associated with microsoft in any way etc hope this helps
That is talking about branding products. It specifically excludes the use of any of their trademarks in a domain name. "Company, Product, Service, and Domain Names Do not use or register any Microsoft trademark, including Microsoft logos, symbols, icons, or any potentially confusing variation thereof, as part of your company name, trade name, product name, service name, or domain name. Do not place your company name, trademarks, service marks, or product names next to, or combine them with, a Microsoft product name."