Hi, Let's get into it without any BS crap. ---> Suppose there is a website with domain name :- apples.com ---> And suppose that website is selling apples for $ 5. ---> Now suppose I'm registering apples.org ---> And that, I'm also selling apples. But for free and also I'm giving some extra things along with it. This is the situation. Am I doing anything wrong? Is this illegal? Is this related to copyright infringement? I'm not planning to copy the design or looks of the site. I'm just selling or giving away the same product that the other site does. But the only problem is :- IF the other site is apples.com , mine is apples.org ---> and we both are selling (and me giving away for free) the same product (I'm not copying the website design or content of the articles on it.) Please help me out.
Heh, what you asked has been beaten to death a gazillion times. But maybe to try to summarize in a few points: 1. What you're referring to is trademark, not copyright. A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, symbol, or a combo of any of them used to distinctively identify the source of a good or service (aka service mark) in commerce. 2. Going by my second sentence from number one, one can't have a trademark if they're using a so-called generic word in its generic sense. One can't have a trademark for the word apple to sell the fruit because that's what it is known for. 3. Emphasizing on the bolded word from number one, OTOH, one can still use the word apple as a mark distinctively, or not for its generic meaning. It's that idea that allowed Apple Computers to use the word for selling computers and, eventually, become a commercial success to this day. 4. There's too much info to post here. Search around for arbitrary, suggestive, fanciful and descriptive trademarks. 5. Various trademark laws don't allow people to use a party's trademark right in a similar or even competing way. If you use the word apple to sell just your very own line of computer stuff, it can cause likelihood of confusion. 6. Expanding from number five, some people who intend to buy from the mark holder might see your site bearing their mark, confuse you with them, maybe buy from you, but potentially deprive Apple of their potential sales and, knock on wood, cause people to distrust their products if yours turn out to be duds. Likelihood of confusion is what trademark laws aim to prevent. Now, what I explained above is not an exhaustive description. Search around these forums, but you have some ideas how this works. Bottom line is this: if someone has a trademark for the word or so you wish to register a domain name for that has a chance of confusing users, along with the mark holder being aggressively protective of their mark, expect trouble. Makes sense?
A lot more doubts are popping out from my head. Shall I throw them out here ? okies... Right now I'm thinking of registering some 2-3 websites. But whenever i search for a name, one of these occur :- either :- ---> that particular name with .com extension has already been registered, and I may register the .net version. But now the problem is :- Am i jumping into trouble while registering a name whose .com version has already been registered ? ---> I was able to find names which wasn't registered till now in any version like .org, .net, .com etc. Suppose I register the .com version (eg: - bigbang.com) - and suppose that I do not register any other versions of that name like bigbang.net, bigbang.org etc, - ALSO suppose that I didn't trademark the domain name (the name can be anything like yu785, ju896 etc ). And after my site becomes a success, suppose one guy registers the .net version (after some months after I register the .com version) and he trademarks it. Then can he harm me in any ways ? Hoping for a good answer. (I really appreciate for the above answers)