hello . i had recently registered a domain name googlevalley.com i concerned with many people about it. some says its legal some says its illegal. i want to know that its legal or not. i had created a site on it but not started yet. what do u think . what i have to do please if you know some useful source then please give me the link or give me the source from where i can contact staff of google.com by email thank you
This is the mail you will get shortly. Dear Sir/Madam: Google is the owner of the well-known trademark and trade name GOOGLE, as well as the domain name GOOGLE.COM. As you are no doubt aware, GOOGLE is the trademark used to identify our award-winning search engine, located at www.google.com. Since its inception in 1997, the GOOGLE search engine has become one of the most highly recognized and widely used Internet search engines in the world. Google owns numerous trademark registrations and applications for its GOOGLE mark in countries around the world. Google has used and actively promoted its GOOGLE mark for a number of years, and has invested considerable time and money establishing exclusive proprietary rights in the GOOGLE mark for a wide range of goods and services. As a result of its efforts, the GOOGLE mark has become a famous mark and a property right of incalculable value. You have registered, without Google's permission or authorization, the domain name googlevalley.com (the 'Domain Name'). The Domain Name is confusingly similar to or incorporates in its entirety the famous GOOGLE mark, and, by its very composition, suggest Google's sponsorship or endorsement of your websites and correspondingly, your activities. Your use of a Domain Name that is confusingly similar to the famous GOOGLE mark constitutes trademark infringement and dilution of Google's trademark rights and unfair competition. Your use of the Domain Name is diluting use because it weakens the ability of the GOOGLE mark and domain name to identify a single source, namely Google. Further, your registration and use of the Domain Name misleads consumers into believing that some association exists between Google and you, which tarnishes the goodwill and reputation of Google's services and trademarks. Your registration and use of the Domain Name is clearly designed to appropriate the goodwill associated with the famous GOOGLE mark in violation of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act ('ACPA'). Because you are using a Domain Name that is similar to the famous GOOGLE mark to direct Internet traffic to your commercial website, your bad faith intent to profit from our mark is manifest. Please note the ACPA provides for damages of up to $100,000 per domain name. Your registration and use of the Domain Name is also actionable under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy ('UDRP'). Because you are using the Domain Name to attract Internet users to your website for commercial gain, your actions meet the bad faith criteria of Section 4(b)(iv) of the UDRP. Under similar circumstances, Google has prevailed in numerous UDRP actions. These decisions are located online at http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrpdec.htm. In view of your infringement of our rights, we must demand that you provide written assurances within 7 days that you will: 1. Immediately discontinue any and all use of the Domain Name; 2. Take immediate steps to transfer the Domain Name to Google; 3. Identify and agree to transfer to Google any other domain names registered by you that contain GOOGLE or are confusingly similar to the GOOGLE mark; 4. Immediately and permanently refrain from any use of the term GOOGLE or any variation thereof that is likely to cause confusion or dilution. Sincerely, The Google Trademark Team this is what i got recently for a domain registered with google in it.. yeah , drop the domain soon!
It's not really "illegal" to register a domain name bearing a trademark. What's illegal is registering and using a domain name that's infringing the mark, more so if commercial. As for some useful source: http://www.google.com/permissions/guidelines.html And given you registered a domain name bearing a famous mark, don't bother listening to anyone who tells you to sell it to Google. They've got nothing to lose if they turn out wrong, and it's your behind.
There's a newsletter on Windows XP operating system. They had to change their domain from WinXPNews to WXPNews, because Microsoft Corp. requested it. Read the first point in FAQ: http://www.wxpnews.com/subscribe.cfm
thanks i will try to take written permission from google to using my domain i hope they will allow me