Dear all, I have purchased a domain name whose name is already registered as a trademark. I have nearly thorough'd the Uniform Domain Name dispute Resolution policy of ICANN. My question is : if I start a discussion site for a TradeMark product with domain name exactly as Trademark.extension ( eg like google.fm or google.am ) (no prefixes or suffixes) In more simple words, is it legal to start a discussion site for a mobile service provider in my domain. Possible loop holes (Correct me if i am wrong) 1. My site is non-Competitive ( as I am discussing only about their product and on nothing else ) 2. My site is non-Competitive ( as I am just starting a discussion forum, where as they are Mobile Service providers and they have not yet started any discussion forums officially ) 3. The site is not used in "Bad Faith" as I am discussing only about their product and not about their competitors product. Kindly guide me please, I have to start 7 such sites.
Your problem with this is that if your site becomes very popular or is you start to make high revenue from it then you may have the result of the trademark holder stepping in and taking it from you to profit from themselves.
The best approach will be to create a website and then approach the trademark holder. Tell them that your intention is to popularise their products and get user's remarks which can be used for the betterment of the company products. This is a win-win situation and should be acceptable as long as your site is not a THREAT or demeaning for the company.
Exact domain names are going to be trademark infringement - especially since you intend to relate it to the trademark holder. It doesn't matter if they have a forum or not - they might not want one. I'm going to guess the site would be commercial in nature (takes in any form of income - adsense, donations, etc). You should get permission from the company (which they aren't likely to give) or forget about using those domains for a forum about the trademark holders product/service.
Actually it is competitive and in bad faith. Non-Competitive means something totally unrelated. Meaning you are not allowed to talk about their trademark, similar products or anything that relates to that field. Failing to do so is and making profits is "Bad Faith".
same thing here, but i have a word after the trademarked word. so for me the trademark is quadzero. and my domain is quadzero.com. However, the site is home to the Quadzero Association. This way it does not matter. The trademark holder cannot make you give up a domain unless you are solely using their trademarked name as your company/site name.
That's not true. Trademarks are granted based on classifications. It doesn't matter if you use the mark as your company site or site name - the domain name alone can be infringement. If your site has content that is in the same classification as the trademark holder, they can sue you or take the domain. Famous marks have even broader protection.
ONLY if the registered trademark is trademark(dot)extension then would you have to give up the domain. A domain includes the (Dot)extension. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/notices/guide299.htm
Wrong again. The US recognizes "common law" trademarks. You only have to be the first person/company to use, and continue to use, a mark in a particular classification to establish trademark rights. No filing whatsoever is required.
Perhaps you could post the portion you think disputes what I have said? Are you talking about registering a domain name as a trademark? You don't generally register a domain name, you register the mark. That mark gives you rights that extend to every tld i.e. you don't trademark microsoft.com you trademark "microsoft". That protects microsoft.xxx or microsoftcomputers.xxx etc. Perhaps you should read this: What are common law rights? Federal registration is not required to establish rights in a trademark. Common law rights arise from actual use of a mark. Generally, the first to either use a mark in commerce or file an intent to use application with the Patent and Trademark Office has the ultimate right to use and registration. However, there are many benefits of federal trademark registration. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmfaq.htm#Search005
Ok, I myself am still a bit lost on the topic. Since obviously you know a lot more about this than me, could you also answer: If there is the trademark "zero" registered, is it still possible to trademark something like "zero motors" ? I know this is more of my question but It might help "Kothar" with his general question as well. Regards.
It depends on what classification "zero" is trademarked for, but the short answer is that you don't get around trademark infringement by adding words to a trademark. If the "zero" trademark is owned by a car company, "zero motors" is going to be infringement. If the "zero" trademark is owned by a jewelry company, then "zero motors" wouldn't likely be infringing upon the trademark (assuming "zero motors" doesn't have anything to do with jewelry). Trademarks are granted by classification - there are over 40 classes. "zero" could be a registered trademark for a car company AND a registered trademark for a jewelry company - both different owners, different usage rights. The more famous a trademark, the more broad protection it has. That broad protection also extends to very unique (made up) words like "xerox". If you decide to register a domain because of the success of another company or trademark (i.e. "MySpaceSupport.xxx" or "microsoftforums.xxx") then chances are you are going to be infringing upon their trademark rights.
Okay, thanks. So my site Quadzero, is called Quadzero Association of Science. That has nothing to do with rifle scopes (company that owns the trademark Quadzero) Is that legal? and can also should a new domain be bought for this instead of quadzero.com @Kothar- Sorry and Almost done. hopefully this is helping you too. If not apologies
While their filing predates your domain registration, the rights of the "quadzero" registered mark is probably limited to rifle scopes (or similar) since their mark was recently filed on an "intent to use" basis. If your use of the name is entirely different, you aren't likely to be infringing. You would also need to check for prior usage of "quadzero" or "quad zero" to see if common law rights exist for any other usages that may conflict with your intended usage. I don't see any site on your domain, so you wouldn't appear to have established your usage right of the domain. Until you start using the domain with actual content, there is really no way to determine what your usage is, nor could you establish common law rights. Anyone can sue you saying you infringed upon their usage. Whether or not they would be successful in court is another story.