Help me decide what to do with this domain "THEGOOGLEBOX.COM"

HI
a friend/colleague of mine asked me to reg this domain then when i did changed his mind

so i was wondering should i just charge him for it and be done or keep it for myself and do something with it.

what would be your suggestions for this domain should i keep it (which i am sorta inclined to do cus i dont want to cause any bad feeling with my friend for the sake of a $6 domain name)

any ideas ?

i might even consider going into partnership (50/50) with anyone who provides a good way to monitze this domain if they could help implement it

so hit me with your ideas

 

Personally I would be careful with ANYTHING with the word Google in it. The "Do No Evil" gang is likely to be miffed at any trademark infringement issues.

Gregg

 

Just let the domain drop. It's trademark infringement and putting time into a domain that you would wind up losing isn't worth it.

 

I would first ask for there permission to use it once you have figured out what your going to do with it. As there are a lot of sites out there that have google in them and operate just fine.
As for what to do as a site when I read the domain I thought of a package of google goodies like all the google related items sold ie.ebooks, tips, scripts etc. all packaged together.

 

yeah that could work mr bill thanks

who/where should i contact to get permission to use the name you think? and do you really think its copyright infringment just because it contains the word google?

i'm not sure if i am recaling false memories here but when i was a kid i'm 99% sure that people refered to the TV as a googlebox . but i aint so sure tho

 

gogglebox

You could ask the webmaster here how it could be done or who to contact
http://www.logoogle.com/ who operates with friendly permission by Google, Inc.

 

interesting
i just searched yahoo and got 38,000 results for the word googlebox
36,000 in google
one link was this article
http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=74350

also found this article on domains owned by google
http://yangtx.com/?p=45
check out the googlebox enteries

is there a future in this name?

 

This has nothing to do with copyright infringement, it's trademark infringement. Having the letters "google" isn't automatically trademark infringement, but your domain starts with "TheGoogle" which could confuse people by looking at the domain name only that it might be associated with the worldwide mark "google". This makes it infringement and no disclaimer once the person landed on the page is likely to help. If you had owned the domain prior to "google" becoming a worldwide brand, it might be another story. This looks like you attempted to ride the goodwill of an existing trademark, which makes it infringement.

You could ask google for permission, however, there is no benefit to them granting it and my guess is that there is no chance they would allow it. It would also alert them to the domain, which would legally make them bound to act upon it to protect their mark. It's only a $6 loss - I would just write-it-off as experience.

 

ouch i'm not sure i wanted to hear that
lol
what about setting the site up as the go ogle box (ogle means to stare) and set it up as a live adult webcam site you think i would get into much trouble in court?

 

I'm afraid that won't work. The display of domain name alone is infringement. While google usually just asks for the domain, setting up an adult cam might get you a lawsuit for damages (harming their mark).

Google is a Federally Registered Trademark. They can get treble their legal fees, all income the site ever generated, plus damages if they wanted to go to court. Even if you won, the court wouldn't award you legal fees - so is it really worth spending tens of thousands of dollars to defend a $6 domain? Unlike google, I doubt you have an in-house legal team.

 

lol i did say it in jest

 

If it is still within 5 day grace period of registration, return the domain for a refund from your registrar.