I got a question, which I think I may know the answer to but just to double check with some of you experts on dp. Would it be illegal to make a domain and run a site on a company. Let's say for example a company that sells Shoes let's say. Call them ShoesNow.com , would it be legal to run a blog or forum about that brand or whatever with a domain like ShoesNowForum.com or ShoesNowBlog.com Thanks in advance.
I dont think that it would be illegal to have the domains like that, its only illegal if the content is the same.
It really depends on actually name, but if you are talking about having a forum or blog that is about another business - or a domain that could create consumer confusion, then you are likely going to have trademark infringement issues. You can't ride the goodwill that someone else has established without their permission.
Curtis129, that is horrible advice. mjewel, that is absolutely correct. If the domain could lead to consumer confusion, you will probably loose it. However, if you obtain prior permission then you would be ok. A lot of companys don't mind as long as you ask first and don't make any money off it (no ads, adsense, adbrite, nothing)
No that's not illegal. There are thousands of sites that sell the same type of things but for different prices. Thats competition.
sjames, you must have misread his post. But, you are wrong. Even if he was selling things, its not called competition. If the domain name is likely to create confusion, then the domain will be taken by the trademark owner (once they find it and file suite). He is not selling things, but will be talking about them. With a domain shoesnowforum(or blog).com he is likely to create consumer confusion and will be riding the goodwill of their brand name. Now, I will give you a situation where it would be ok to use something like that. Nike www.nike.com, shoe (and other sports apparel) www.nike.net (they probably have this registered, don't know for sure though) www.nike.net sells kitchen things, microwaves, silverware, plates, etc. nike.net would not be committing trademark infringement because they are selling completely different things.
u can run whatever u want after taking domain there is nothing illegal like that but i am agree also it can mislead customers to any other things as well !!!
i think it is illegal because if the company have register the company name then it is their trade mark so you are not allowed to have their company name in your domain in most case. e.g. sony, if you have a domain that include sony e.g sonyforum.co.uk, sonyblog.com e.g you in big trouble i believe. There is lot incident happen for similar issue and the big company like Microsoft, MSN, apple, BMW have contacted the domain owner who ever purchased some domain with their company name included and asked the domain to transfer to them otherwise they will take legal action and etc... if you talking about a not popular company name, it may not the problem you may can include the name in your domain but if they knew about someone have the domain with their company name in your domain they can take legal action against you too. This is only applying if the company name was registering under they own self. For more information check company house website, there will be more information. But i may wrong so seek some others advice to. Good luck
Well, let's not use huge fricken companies like sony or google as examples. Since, if they say you are wrong you are wrong. Even if you are not, they got the money to make you wrong. So let's saying a medium size company's domain. If you make a forum about their company. Just for the sake of letting people discuss their experiences with the company would that be illegal? If the domain contains the name of the company? Like I see this happening all the time, but maybe in those case they are just allowed or is it just legal.
if i was you i wont try to buy a domain containe a compnay name but what i can say even if you buy a domain with a compnay name, you wont get catch until someone inform about it or somehow they find out, until you wont have any problem. but in case if they idintify then first thing they will do is, email you by getting your whois domain information, asking you to remove the domain or transfer to them and etc.. and if you do like they say then it wont be problem. only it may affect if you dined to accept their terms and also, the problem will may occur if your site become more populer and getting large traffic too cz they trying to steal your effect what you put in to promote the site. so i rather buy different domain. so it is up to you. good luck
Doesn't matter how big the company is. I used them as an example as they were the first to come to my head that was a shoe company. So here we go again. Shoe Company is the company we are talking about that sells the shoes. If shoe company doesn't have the name as a registered trademark at the time you make the domain name, you are ok. If they do, that is a whole different story. You can not also have content relating to selling shoes, period. If shoe selling company is called yazooks, you can not have yazooksblog.com/yazooksforum.com or anything with yazooks in it if you are content of the site is about selling shoes (whether reviews or whatever). However, if your content is about kitchen sinks, you would be fine.
The company doesn't have to have a copyright, they just need to be using the name in business. If they notice that you're using their name in the same industry then they can challenge you in court.