Are you allowed to use "Fifa"

I plan on making a soccer manager game browser based which will be call fifasoccermanager dot com, and am not 100% sure if I would be allow to include the word fifa on my domain. I know for a fact that there are several gaming-related sites that use the word "Fifa" such as fifaleagues.com who have been up for years.

 

fifa is copyrighted

TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
A. FIFA, the FIFA logo, the emblems and mascots of FIFA events including the emblem and mascot of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africaâ„¢ and other FIFA logos and product and service names are trademarks and copyright material of FIFA (the "FIFA Marks"). You agree not to display or use the FIFA Marks in any manner without FIFA's prior written permission.

 

You can register that domain as FIFA has no rights over domains containing their name

You just won't be able to call the game fifasoccermanager, but surely by having the domain you will attract a lot of visitors who probably won't even notice they are playing something by a different name?

My advice would be to call it something and register loads of different soccer and football manager domain names and put them on redirect, to maximise the size of your net (to use an analogy from both genres)

 

Congratulations. This HAS to be THE most stupid and moronic advice I have read in this form.

If a person wants to use the name FIFA in their domain name, then they need to get permission from FIFA!

Registering domain names such as you suggest with the aim of profiting will open the person doing so for potential legal action.

 

As lcwadminbj points out, this is totally incorrect.

FIFA can take your domain if it infringes on their trademark. They have done that in the past. For example:

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2001/d2001-0424.html
http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2001/d2001-0070.html
http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2000/d2000-0363.html

 

Using brand names, even fifa is fair game. Just do a search for
beatles and you see thousands with beatles in their domain.

You cannot pass yourself off as an official site.

Think about what is on the net: fans sites and hate sites.
Both of these genres use brand names and the like over and over.

The best example is: hatewalmart.com
Oh how walmart tried like a dog to get this thing down. But they failed.
Hate sites and fan sites are perfectly legal.

Can they try and shut you down? Of course. But like walmart and the
beatles, they gave up a long time ago.

How many 3rd parties use twitter in their domains? Apple? Apple had
to pay big money to get the iphone domain and they will have to do
the same with ipad. Right now almost every conceivable domain with
ipad is gone.

That hatewalmart.com even uses a pseudo walmart logo.

Sometimes they win, most of the times they lose. Many celebrities
have had to resort using the world "real" in their domains, along with
their names to show they are official.

For almost 2 years I have owned an operated a domain with a celeb name
in it.

Think about some more logic here. If using a brand/trademarked name
was illegal, then having it anywhere in the url would be the same. And
there are probably many of you using brand names in a url or subdomain.
You couldn't even be able to use a brand in your title.

I guarantee there are more than a few of domains with fifa in them.

Stephen C

 

The FIFA trademark has been registered even before the internet started to grow. Remember, if your sites gets popular, you're most likely going to have FIFA contact you about the domain and how you're going to transfer it over to them.

Yugo,

 

That's rich, baby!

Hey I'm new here. But only new here.
Anyway, here goes....
You have a site in your sig, free2000microsoftpoints.com

Tell me, how soon before microsoft comes calling for your domain?

Of course I suppose you could just change your sig. Hopefully many
will read this first.

Does that mean this case is closed?

Stephen C

 

Sometimes I think smart webmasters register here just to post stupid stuff for fun.

WalMart is still at it, and still winning.

walmart http://www.udrpsearch.com/?query=walmart&search=domain&results=100&start=1
wal-mart http://www.udrpsearch.com/?query=wal-mart&search=domain&results=100&start=1

Their only loss is BoycottWalMart.com. Read the case to find out why... http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2006/d2006-0812.html


The Beatles are notoriously aggressive in protecting their name. They seem to have just two WIPO cases, so we can safely assume they are using civil court where necessary instead.

 

Walmart has lost so many times....
Let's do some reality check:
walmartwatch.com
walmart-blows.com
i-hate-walmart.com
In fact, the list is endless.
My personal favorite is:
walocaust.com They even proudly post a letter from walmart,
and laugh in their face!

Walmart wins? Hardly.

Here's a walmart quote:
"We have seen some corporate complaint sites. We don't spend a lot of time on them. The people on them think they gain an advantage by doing them. Some people simply do not want us to succeed. They feel they can gain an advantage by making us look bad. We know that there is misinformation about Wal-Mart out there. We launched our own Web site in January to make sure our facts are correct, Walmartfacts.com."

I suppose the biggest one everyone here likes is paypalsucks.com
That one is a classic.

Stephen C

 

I'm shocked that Walmart hasn't won back these names. Perhaps the only loophole is that those sites aren't doing any commerce on them.

All that any company has to do is file an ICANN complaint. The catch is that it involves a long process + going to court. Some companies (like Disney, eBay) have no problem doing this, though.

 

stephenc, you need to understand the concept of fair use. There is nothing wrong with many of the anti WalMart sites. When you add a commercial element, that is when domains are usually lost.

So using your favorite WalMart Sucks sites in an argument supporting the commercial use of the FIFA mark doesn't fly.

Don't argue with me, argue with their win-loss record at WIPO.