Domain Names / Companies

Discussion in 'Legal Issues' started by wyattt, Sep 15, 2007.

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  1. #1
    I have found a really great .com domain name that I want to register, but after doing some searching on Google, I've found that there's a UK games company of the same name.

    Could I get into legal trouble if I registered this? The companies name is _______limited.com, ___ being the name I want to register. Could I go on to sell this domain without any hitches, possibly to the company in the UK? Thank you!
     
    wyattt, Sep 15, 2007 IP
  2. flash902007

    flash902007 Banned

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    #2
    nah your fine mate. as long as your not going around using their logo, trying to take their customers or copy their site in any way your fine.
     
    flash902007, Sep 15, 2007 IP
  3. adviceforall

    adviceforall Banned

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    #3
    just try and make sure the company is not trademarked in anyway find out if any of there stuff is trademarked first if there business name is trademarked then you could have some difficulty if not then there are no legal issues there.

    Good luck!!!
     
    adviceforall, Sep 15, 2007 IP
  4. ipwatchdog

    ipwatchdog Peon

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    #4
    If the company has a trademark on their name they would be able to wrestle the domain name away from you.
     
    ipwatchdog, Sep 17, 2007 IP
  5. forumrating

    forumrating Notable Member

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    #5
    u can buy the domain and park it, i think they would negotiate with you before sending you legal notice and try to settle up off court.

    $8 is worth afterall. coz if they have not brough the .com its their mistake for now not urs.
     
    forumrating, Sep 17, 2007 IP
  6. bluegrass special

    bluegrass special Peon

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    #6
    If they have a trademark, offering to sell it to them will mean that you will definately lose the domain to them if they chose to dispute it with ICANN or the courts. Even just parking the doamin can be seen by ICANN as bad faith registration (unless you have a legitimate non-infringing plan for the domain). The UK supports commonlaw trademarks (though there are several conditions), but that would only matter if they took you to UK court (ICANN doesn't consider commonlaw trademarks, usually).
     
    bluegrass special, Sep 17, 2007 IP
  7. xmedia

    xmedia Peon

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    #7
    It should be fine, although it might pay to put a note some where on the site saying something along the lines of "this site is in no way affiliates with _ _ _ _ limited"
     
    xmedia, Sep 17, 2007 IP
  8. Dave Zan

    Dave Zan Well-Known Member

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    #8
    There are enough UDRP decisions that consider common law trademarks. Of course, it's the burden of the complainant to demonstrate such to begin with.
     
    Dave Zan, Sep 17, 2007 IP
  9. bluegrass special

    bluegrass special Peon

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    #9
    That is why I said usually. Many of the providers will go out of their way to not have to make a decision on common law trademarks (finding some other reason to support or deny a dispute) because of the subjective nature of such decisions. ICANN does not exclude common law marks, and in fact WIPO outlines what needs to be proven to uphold a common law mark dispute.

    http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/overview/index.html#17
     
    bluegrass special, Sep 18, 2007 IP