Hello everyone, I'm posting today because I have a potential problem that is bothering me. Let me explain the background first. I created a website after working on it for a year and I finally launched the site a month ago. I have a competitor in the field who launched the site around 1.5 years ago. There domain name(ficticious for privacy reasons) was TheManinBlue.info. Due the same reason that TheManinBlue.info used "TheManInBlue" as their name, I decided to use it as well. (TheManInBlue is a selfexplanatory domain name in the field) So I paid a good amount of money for TheManInBlue.com and TheManinBlue.Net from the domain owner(completely unrelated to both our sites) and I launched my site (same field but different design, different systems, different colors, etc) a month ago. Now I've gotten word that they are planning some sort of legal action against me. Should I be worried?
They more than likely do not since it's a site that runs off...donations and can barely pay it's own server costs. But IS this trademark infringement? Since I did buy the domain name TheManInBlue.com and .Net completely legally etc. It's like if imdb.info was created a year before IMDB.com, and then IMDB.com is bought and creates a movie databasing website which is in the same field as IMDB.info.
First, trademarks do not need to be registered. The person that is first to use in commerce, for a particular usage, establishes rights to the name (assuming it is eligible for TM protection). Since their usage was prior to yours, you could very well have a an infringement problem since the usage is similar. In the example you gave ("IMDB") it would certainly be infringement and the owner of the .info could file a UDRP to take the domains and/or sue the owner of the .com for infringement. I would suggest that you immediately seek an experienced IP attorney to review your actual situation.
In that case, here's something to further complicate the situation I bought the domain from someone who had FIRST launched the site called TheManInBlue.com, but then her site had issues and never came back up. Then she allowed me to buy it. In that case would I be the owner of the trademark as I just bought the domain but she was the first to create the TheManInBlue site.
Also, and to further further complicate things. The domain owners of TheManInBlue.Info and TheManinBlue.Com live in different countries. Would that affect it?
Owning a domain gives you no trademark rights, it's the actual usage. Buying a domain name does not transfer trademark rights unless you specifically purchased the associated goodwill. As this was a domain only purchase, you would not have acquired any trademark rights. Unless the visitors to the site are limited to a specific country, the fact that owners reside in different countries will not likely make a difference. Before you register or purchase a domain, it is your obligation to check for existing usage of the name and possible trademark infringement.
To pick up on the other point mjewel made, it does also depend on if it would be possible to trademark the term. You mention that the real domain name would mean something to people in the relevant sector/ niche..... if it is a generic term then you could be safe as it generally isnt possible to trademark such things, of cause if it is a clever play on a generic term or more than just the generic term itself then it may well be trademarked
The advice here is good. Also keep in mind that if the previous site that was there (that was in the same field) never got any threats/complaints from this person, chances are they are trying to intimidate you because you are direct competition. Perhaps the domain may have only been sold because the original owners were also also getting threats.
A trademark or copyright thing maybe, but not some average domain name, logo, or template. Really depends on all the details, but I wouldn't worry too much unless you are using some well known name, product, and that type of thing.
Unfortunately, whether you are right or wrong doesn't help when someone says they will sue. I'd be worried just because they think they are right and think they should sue. However, I don't think they will have a sound legal position - you shouldn't be worried. What you are suggesting is they want to claim a trademark like protection on their domain name. Well, unless they have actual trademark you don't have to worry. Merely owning a domain name doesn't bestow upon one the rights and privileges of trademark protection. Lots of people scream: "I am going to sue!". But until they do, those are a bunch of words. Don't be intimidated until you see a paper which has the word: 'summons' at the top.