No, you cannot go back and register a name already in use. If this "Paul Dell" had his template selling business BEFORE Michael Dell started using it (for web/computer related business) Michael Dell could not have used it. The first to use a name, for a particular use, and whom continues to use it, owns the rights to the name. You don't even need to file for a registration to have legal rights to the name. If you started "Blue Chicken Computers" tomorrow, provided no one else was already using the name, you would own the rights to the name. No one else could use it - EVER - Provided you continued to use it and could prove you were using it before anyone who might challenged you. You can't trademark generic names like "Apple Pie" for baked goods, but you could be able to trademark "Apple Pie" as a perfume - because the usage was unique. No one is preventing Paul Dell from using his last name. He just can come along and use it for a web/computer related business years after Michael Dell started using it. That is riding the success of someone else.
don't be stupid. thanks for the clarification mjewel......but do you feel that...well, that this law sucks?
and again it is not his real name that we are talking about .... dell websites is his company name which he registered and it is official. so we have real contradictory situation here
Regardless of the letter of the law, it is pretty screwed up for a big corporation to go after a small company for damages in this particular situation. The guy used his own last name followed by websites.com, because he makes websites. If he was being malicious, I could see them going after damages. Dell's PR is going to take a hit if this gets the right publicity. If they where smart, they would just make a generous offer to the guy instead and let this go quietly. I don't know if he can, but I think he should win the case. I really hope he does. Somebody posted earlier, Dell's computers suck anyways. Now I dislike the company too, not just their crappy product.
This Paul Dell guy owned a resturant. Dell Computers announced it was going into the small business website hosting business. Paul Dell, resturant owner, then goes out and registers "Dellwebsites". Dell Computers contacts Paul Dell and asks him to turn over the website. After going back and forth for several years, Dell Computers finally files a lawsuit against Paul Dell because he refused to turn over the domain- which is now selling website templates. Interestingly, Paul Dell's grandfather had done a similar type of squating with a popular product sold under the name of "Anthony's" claiming he had the right to sell a duplicate of a famous product sold under the name of "Anthony's" because his name was also Anthony. To the idiot who keeps saying he registered his name officially - that's bs. You can walk in and get a business license to use any name you want. That isn't registering a name for trademark purposes- and for a business license, they only check to see if someone else has signed up to use the name in the county or state which you live. You could get a license for Microsofit, Coke or Pepsi as long as no one in the county or state had already done so. They don't check for trademarks, they tell you that by giving you a license it gives you no legal right to use the name. Getting a business license gives you NO right to use the name - they don't even check for a trademark (which can cost thousands of dollars). This is just like a registering a domain name - the registrar only checks to see in that exact name has been registered, not if you have a legal right to use the domain name. Even if Paul Dell had filed for a trademark (he didn't) and the trademark office had said ok (they didn't) - he still couldn't use the name if someone else could show they used the name first. When you file for a trademark, no one checks to see if the name has been used before. The examiner at the trademark office only checks to see if the name has been filed for at their office - not if someone was already using the name. That's because there is a 6 year waiting period for anyone to come forward and show that you cannot use the name. The right to use a name is not granted until SIX YEARS after you file - and only if no one comes forward to dispute it. The domain use or usage by Paul Dell doesn't date back 6 years, so it is IMPOSSIBLE that the guy was given the uncontestibly right to use the name. Dell computers disputed his right to use the domain name shortly after the resturant owner turned template seller registered it.
i have registered small home bussines company. And by law i have to use my nama+surname and s.p ( small property ) in my company name. I have to because thats the law. on every bill i sign i have to write that on itŽ( name + surname) and that is official company name in my country small bussiness database. You can check that here http://www.najdi.si/snsi/search.jsp?q=janez&x=0&y=0&ct=Register&st=simple&fh=1 Do you understand that. And please if you dont know for each country their own laws dont call me idiot, because in this case you are wrong. and you must register your domain by that exactly name. Do you understand that also. It has nothing to do with trademark and dell company doesnt have a case here
I heard the song, "The farmer in the dell" has been sued into now, "The Farmer goes to Hell" "Hell" and "Satan" are icons protected by the Constitution. Rumor has it, someone has trademarked: "Christ", "God" and "Christianity", so they will be totally removed from all American Life immediately. tom
LOL, you have to be one of the most clueless posters on this forum. I don't know what country you live in, but it has nothing to do with the joint agreement Spain and the United States have. That is the only law that matters in this case. I don't really care if you are right or wrong about your country, because that has absolutely NOTHING to do with what is being discussed. All I know if you know absolutely nothing about US trademark law- and that is all that matters.
i live in slovenia and my country also signed that aggrement ... but that is not the point .... the point is that trademark and official company name are two different things. if i register company by some name and i have to use my own name also in the company name then i can sure register mynamewebsites.com and that has nothing to do with some trademark. only some people like perhaps you would be mixing up dellwebsites.com and dell company. Dell stands no chance in this because small dell isnt using dell trademark but his company name.
maybe i sound like a kid because my english skills are not so good as you think should be, but probably you only know english and nothing else so perhaps you still have a lot to learn.... as for dell thing ... you obviously know just about trademark laws and didnt even bother to look some other opinions but just driving one way ? it is contradictory thing that you can not use your official business name, which was registered couple of years ago. Now this guy is making bills for his clients and he MUST put his business name on bills by his country law, so i ask you why he can not have web site by exactly that business name.
I usually don't take sides in arguments such as this, but I need to state something obvious that you are in fact missing. Opinion is one thing. Law is another. The letter of the law dictates what a judge must do, and opinion has a lot less pull in the decision making process. The official busines name argument you are making holds no water. The trademark laws are create to PREVENT people from using official business names that contradict the laws. If this guy is in fact going to lose the suit, his official business name will need to be changed. The law is stronger than the "official" tag you are slapping on his business name. It is my opninion that Dell is in the wrong. From a moral standpoint, why would they try to go after this little guy for damages? They could put this guy out of house and home when just as easily they could come up with a different domain with little or no effect to sales at all. Law may dictate they are right. My opinion and beliefs tell me they are wrong. In the end, my opinion doesn't really matter, the official busines name doesn't matter, but the judge's ruling does.
the fact you are all missing here is that dell has no case an it will be dropped in my opinion. we will see how this story will end
And if I got a letter from Google..guess what! I would LOSE! It's a risk in domaining and many pros take it. I have hundreds of sites and sure..some could be an issue. That doesn't mean I am not aware of it nor of the fact that if I get a C&D that I will fight them. Sometimes I play football with guys I know I will lose against but it's still fun to go out and get some excercise.