Will using "WOW" (as In World of Warcraft) in my domain name be a TM Infringement? The website will deal in World of Warcraft related item sales. I can quote one website bankofwow.com as an example. Also kindly let me know what registrar would be appropriate to go for such a registration. Thanks for your time.
It could certainly be infringement if you do not have express permission. What other people do doesn't matter. Whether or not they will come after you is unknown. The registrar makes no difference - the domain can be taken in a UDRP action.
"real words" can be trademarks - and there are a number of trademarks in the UK on "WOW". When you use a mark in conjunction with the usage of of a mark holder, it can be infringement.
Trademarks are registered for one or more categories. Only usage in registered categories would infringe a trademark holders rights. So using WOW for banking is unlikely to be a problem - but to syphon off their traffic in WOW niche certainly would. I've recently been looking at using the word 'speedo' - for a site measuring speed. Swimwear company Speedo are now so big and continually extending their range of products and trademark categories to even cover watches and timing - making it a very fine line between registering a word with a generic use and protecting their intellectual property. They have actually created products starting with every single letter in the alphabet!
You can search here. http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm.htm The UK also recognizes trademarks from other countries under the Madrid Protocol, as well as common law marks. For purposes of domains, US law would apply under ICANN rules.
thanks for your kind inputs. I will not use wow in my doain name. But can't I even include terms like WOW or worldcraft in my website's content? I other words, can't one even write about a Company's product?
You can certainly use trademark terms in your website copy as long as you are not representing yourself as an official or authorized site of the tm holder.
One is clearly not trademark infringement, the other opens the door to a dispute if the trademark holder chooses to enforce their IP rights. It's also possible that certain sites have been authorized by the TM holder. A TM holder does not have to go after all people who infringe upon their mark. Some look the other way, some selectively enforce, others go after almost everyone.
When using the letters "wow" in reference to World of Warcraft it is obviously a different matter that someone using a "wow" as a dictionary term for its generic and normal purpose. Do you not see the distinction? Nonetheless, "wow" could easily be trademarked in nearly every jurisdiction. I know of no reason someone can't incorporate the word "wow" into a UK trademark. It would seem quite odd if it were not allowed.
AFAIUI, real words can't be 'grabbed'. I couldn't trademark the word 'School' in the UK for example. What look like marks on real words (e.g. 'orange') are often just pictorial marks (specific images/colors etc). I'm no expert, of course, but I was under the impression we were talking about trademarking dictionary words, not combinations of them, which is blindingly obviously completely different, so thanks for your input. @mjewel, yes, I'm aware of the online trademark search facility. I was asking you to show us a link to the trademark 'wow', which is a dictionary word. There are lots of pictorials, and plenty of multiple word marks where one of the words is 'wow' but I'm darned if I can find the trademark 'wow'. Obviously, you could trademark a dictionary word when it's part of a longer phrase (eg 'supafab schools'). Having said all that, I'm happy to be proven wrong, and anyone seeking free advice would be more than sensible to listen to mr jewel, who is a professional in this field, rather than any other anonymous forum poster.
Mark text: WoW Status: Registered Class: 25 Filing date: 20 February 2007 Next renewal date: 20 February 2017 Registration date: 20 June 2008 Publication in Trade Marks Journal First advert: Journal: 6727 Publication date: 14 March 2008 Registration: Journal: 6743 Publication date: 11 July 2008 List of goods or services Class 25: Footwear. Names and addresses Proprietor: Z + M Products Ltd 13th Floor, 350 Eastern Avenue, Ilford, Essex, IG2 6NN Incorporated country: United Kingdom Residence country: United Kingdom ADP number: 0904787001 http://www.ipo.gov.uk/domestic?domesticnum=2447188 http://www.ipo.gov.uk/domestic?domesticnum=2480627B http://www.ipo.gov.uk/domestic?domesticnum=2426905 http://www.ipo.gov.uk/domestic?domesticnum=2283915
Nice, but not really what I wanted. The marks are either for 'WoW' i.e. a cap/uncap variant, of all caps, neither of which is a 'real' word. Well done for digging those up though, that, folks is why you should go to mr family jewels first! (or should I say FiRst).
Search for "tide" and "shell" using that link mjewel posted, and let us know what you find. Then again, surely you can see them in your area or so. And don't forget that trademarks don't have to be registered in order to exist, otherwise known as common law marks as mjewel mentioned.
OK getting a bit sick of this. If you exact match search for 'tide' there are 5 registrations. 3 are pictorial images and 2 are the word TIDE (capital letters, i.e not a dictionary word). 'Shell' is also either CAPITALS or IMAGES. Sheesh. So frankly, I'm STILL waiting for someone to show me an example of a dictionary word that has been trademarked as a word, not an image, in the UK Although you do make a good point about common law trademarks, which is worth remembering
The fact that a text mark is displaying in capitals or not makes no difference - It's still a protected trademark. I am not real familiar with the UK site, but it looks like they tend to display Uppercase when it is a text mark - which is a much stronger mark. That is just how it is displayed on the UK site, and doesn't in any way mean it is only a trademark if all uppercase letters are used. For instance, if you tried to name a computer company "Apple" it wouldn't matter if you displayed it "APPLE" "Apple" "apple" - it would still be infringement. Infringement does not have to be exact either. "Dictionary" words can be trademarked in any country for something other than their normal usage. You couldn't trademark "Apple" as a fruit, but as a brand name for a computer, it is certainly allowed (and done). Edit: According to the UK trademark website, it appears the capitalization of all letters just means the text mark is one word. http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-about/t-faq/t-faq-series.htm