My friend registered a site: www.studentsgoogle.com Can he land into trouble for trademark violation? Plz explain. I don't want him to end up in a slammer. I will inform him to leave the site if it is against law. -Aditya
Here are two links pertaining to the use of "Google" and "Adsense" in domain names: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showpost.php?p=697616&postcount=4 http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showpost.php?p=698129&postcount=5 I would think it's not such a good idea, but haven't been able to find a lot about it on the Internet.
You need to understand there is a difference between civil law and criminal law. Trademark violations are a civil matter punishable by financial penalties (judgments, liens etc.) Jail time is related to criminal law. ( At least that's how it works in the USA; I have no idea about India)
Well, it doesn't really seems like a good ideal to use google in your domain name. You might get by for a while but probably not for long. If in thought, maybe you could write to google about it, if they say you may use it then you may use it but I highly doubt that would be the case.
Yes, writing to google is a good idea, but they most likely will deny your request to use it as they will state and I will concur to to the fact that you will mainly receive most of your hits only because it says "google" in it. Now if you take the opposing stand, if you don't ask them, you can face lawsuits. So either way, it is a no go, unless you want to either waste your time, or have a lawsuit on your hands. I think it would be best to drop the site, and not contact google as your friend has already registered the site name.
Stick it on 1plus.net. (Parking.) Then let it expire. if google does contact you about it, just hand it over. Robert