Ok so maybe this is more of a Trademark issue but I'm not sure. GBHots.net is a Great Britain Hosting site and I registered GBHosts.com because GB stands for Gigabyte. If you ask me, gigabyte is about as generic as you can get. The other day someone accused me of cybersquatting which I had never heard of until that person brought it up. So my question is, even if they do have GBHosts.net copyrighted or trademarked, they don't own the rights to GBHosts.com so I can do what I please with it as long as I don't claim to be Great Britain Hosts. Right? Am I ok here? Would GBHosts.net have a case? Thanks, Alan
Right ! You are not at any fault.It is highly disturbing to see that people make statements without understanding legal aspects.
Rules vary depending on where you live. If you're running a similar and competing service, and could be getting business based on their reputation, you could have problems. If you're using the domain for something entirely different, there may not be a violation. Contact an intellectual property lawyer where you live.
well I'm running a hosting site like they are because that's what the domain is for. Also, they are in UK and I'm in USA.
Especially that you're in the same line of work, you really should be talking to a trademark attorney and not forum members. Certain things are protected internationally, and only an attorney can tell you anything for sure about your specific situation.
ok well I just wanted to make a hosting site with this great domain. Maybe I should email GBHosts.net and see if everything is okay.
Wanting to and being legally allowed to unfortunately aren't always the same things. Personally I wouldn't email them. I'd consult an attorney. Chances are that they'll say they don't want you using it, or they may try to get the domain from you if you contact them directly, whether or not you're legally in the clear. I'd establish that with a professional first so you don't give up something you don't have to and you don't do something you shouldn't that would violate their rights.
Your domain would certainly be trademark infringement if you used it in a similar manner (web hosting). It doesn't matter what you say the letters stand for, it creates confusion in the marketplace. The last thing you should do is contact them - and you really shouldn't have posted the domain name. I just took a look at both domains. You have copied their sites look - you page looks almost identical, including the colors. I think you have some serious legal liability issues and you should really get a hold of an IP attorney if you don't intend to take down the site. If the other company filed a WIPO action, imo, they could take your domain. I think they also have very good cause to sue you.
well I just took down the site because I don't want any problems. If I made a new hosting site that was completely different, could I still use the domain for hosting? I don't see how them owning GBHosts.net allows them to keep anyone from running a hosting site on GBHosts.com if it is completely different.
What I want to know is why the hell didn't they purchase all common TLD's for the domains - If they're trademarked they will take the domain away from you. Some (Around 20%) of International TLD's can be taken from you too, So com's aren't the only one.
You need to look at the domain name, not what what the initials stand for. You can't register apple.net to sell computers and claim "apple" stands for "a place people like ecstatically". You look at the domain name minus the tld extension and what the site sells or offers (usage). The question is, could someone looking at the domain name be confused into thinking it could be the domain of the original company? In your case, absolutely. That's infringement. You're trying to ride the goodwill they established. You basically copied their site design and inserted adsense into it. It's pretty clear you wanted people to be confused. Using the domain for anything related to hosting is going to have legal risks. I think they have a good case for cybersquatting even if you just hold onto the domain with nothing on it. You already have put yourself at legal risk with the site content. Had you used the domain for a site completely unrelated to hosting, you would have likely been ok. At this point, I would just hope you don't hear from them regarding what you already did (taking the site down doesn't get you off the hook for past actions). You could try to make a site about something unrelated, like hosting parties or something that has nothing to do with web hosting and hope you don't hear from them.
well the site was only up for about a day and I showed it to people to see what they thought. once they toled me i shouldn't do this, I took it down. doubt anybody even saw the site so I think I'm just going to forget about it. There's nothing else I want to do with the domain.