Hi I don't know much about legal stuff so can someone please help me with this. I was an affiliate for a software company. I had a domain that included the name of their trademarked product in it and earned money from the site for about a year through an affiliate network promoting their software. Their product was called "xxxx" - and my domain was "xxxxdownload.com" - At the time when the site was created (Early 2013) there were no affiliate agreements saying it was not allowed until about February this year (2014). They informed my affiliate network recently to tell all affiliates in this situation to drop their domains so I did almost immediately and complied. My question - Even after you comply and drop the domain/shut down the site - Can they attempt to sue and reclaim all commission earned from you, the affiliate? They are in USA and I am in Africa? Please let me know. Thanks.
It does not matter whether an affiliate agreement prohibited use of a trademarked company or product name or not. The law provides protections for trademark owners and that is what matters. You should never use trademarks, images, content, or other assets of a business without express written permission, whether that permission is in the terms of service or provided directly to you. Just because an affiliate agreement does not mention something that is already protected by law, that does not give you permission to do it. Nor does it absolve you of liability. I have never heard of a company coming after someone for infringing on their trademarks. As far as the affiliate program goes, that is going to depend on the contractual terms of the affiliate agreement. I have never heard of an affiliate program demanding repayment due to a trademark issue. Fraud, yes. Trademarks, no. Usually what happens when you violate the terms of an affiliate agreement is that your account is terminated and all accrued (unpaid) commissions are forfeited. Considering that you are in a different country, you should not be concerned at all about legal action. The cost of them to come after you will be high and the amount they could reclaim would probably not come close to paying the lawyers.