Hi guys, I registered a domain (abcdefgh.com) without knowing that a) a business house has a copyright (wordmark) called "the abcd" and they also run a site called abcd.xyz b) somebody else has a similar domain theabcdefgh.com registered plus its hosted also. I want to sell it off, since i dont want a similar looking domain name. My question are 1) will there be any legal issues due to 1) ?. I dont want either me or the potential future buyer to be involved in legal battles. 2)this word is not the business house's primary name. its just a sub group of that house. (also this sub group not very well-known). In the worst, what would be the problem?. Do companies sue others or just send a notice to close it down? (Note: I registered another better looking domain name. Hence looking to sell)
No one can predict whether a business with a potential claim of trademark infringement will have the resources, desire, etc., to take legal action against the owner of such a domain. There are many factors that could lead a business to take action or not. Note that trademark infringement cases have been litigated for generations, so this is nothing new. I am not a lawyer, but here is my long-time rule of thumb when I have questions such as this is why take the risk, however small? What if you are successful at building up the business and the brand for 3-4 years and then the other company comes after you for infringement and then wins? You would lose a lot of what you had built up. Now, there are some businesspeople who will calculate the odds and based on their own personal risk profile not worry about this potential risk and run with the domain.
If you are upfront when you promote the sale about the word potentially being subject to trademark disputes then you've done all that can be expected to protect the buyer from problems. Personally, I'd leave it to them to do their homework and assess the risk. Just because the word is a minor "brand" for a larger company doesn't mean it'll be ignored, and if they do sit up and take notice they are more likely to hit hard purely because thats what they do for the parent "brand". Some companies are more litigious than others. Stay away from "harrods" for example. Since you've bought a new domain I'd just quietly sell off this one, don't make a fuss - buyers will know what they are looking at. Try to get reg fee, nothing more.