Trademarks can be established upon first use - no registration is needed. To the OP, if you are creating a similar site, the short answer is no, you cannot add words or a number and get around trademark infringement.
I think what mjewel really meant to say is that trademarks can be established by use - no registration is needed. The first person to use a mark is not necessarily the only one who can have trademark rights nor does the first person to use a mark necessarily have the best trademark rights. For example, if a person buys the URL sooperdooper.com and posts a simple one page personal website and does no marketing while a second person buys sooperdooper.net and markets it extensively as a game site, the facts may show that the first user has no trademark rights, the second has rights to "sooperdooper" in connection with online games and neither has the right to prevent someone from using sooperdooper.biz to sell kitchen appliances. But mjewel's real point is that if someone is using a URL you have to at least consider the fact that the person MAY have established trademark rights that may be infringed by your use. Simply adding a numeral does not necessarily avoid potential liability for trademark infringement.
Actually NO! -- I'm so sick of getting negative feedback for this crap --- i'm so sick of it. Just because you register a domain name does not mean that you have the trademark or own the trademark I know its first use but that doesn't matter -- in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA you have to file a TRADEMARK REQUEST!!!!!!! and the request for trademark can take months if not years as there are lots of research that is involved --and they can go by that what I mean to say was it is ILLEGAL to use a trademarked name with any variations. -- @mjewel you need to get over the grudge you have against me. - grow the hell up. -- go here http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/index.jsp
Guess what buddy. Its called not all of us live in america. sadly i do. so copywrong laws apply to me.
I understand that, but most Trademarks are registered in the US, and the US is the biggest on Trademark, and Copyright laws. -- I know how the Trademark process works, as I am currently trying to register one for my company. -- Browntwn and MJewel have grudges against me which is fine I could careless but its ridiculous that instead of sending someone a PM saying -- um NO your wrong they just up and jump to negative feedback when in fact I didn't make a false statement -- the two above can kiss my ( deleted ) Its ridiculous how childish those two are. they make me not want to use dp because it reminds me how many a##holes there are in the world -- as I said they can go *#**# themselves.
"....when in fact I didn't make a false statement" "...in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA you have to file a TRADEMARK REQUEST!!" lol, you don't have a clue and shouldn't be posting in the legal section. Here is a quote from the United States Trademark Office that proves you posted false information: "Is registration of my mark required?" No. You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark. However, owning a federal trademark registration on the Principal Register provides several advantages, e.g., http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/register.jsp
I was referring to the "FEDERAL" I am filling a "FEDERAL" trademark for my company. As I have proprietary software that is pending a Patent.
Patents have nothing to do with trademarks, except that they are managed out of the same government office. Getting a patent gives you rights to an invention, while a trademark gives you rights to use a particular "mark" to do business. As mjewel pointed out more than once, trademarks don't have to be registered to be valid. Here's more from the USPTO web site: http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/register.jsp So those are all good reasons to register a trademark, but as the USPTO itself says, registration is not required in the U.S.
Wow, this one is getting heated, I am going to stay out of this one I think. I hope you find the legal advice here without getting hurt first celverfox122....lol I think there is some good info above, but there is some strange hostility vibe going on in this room too.
It depends on the keywords. 1Microsoft.com is trouble. 1Cars.com is fine (assuming there isn't a TM on 1Cars).
My question is WHY would you want to use an established domain name with a 1 at the front or end in the first place? Are you lacking in the ability (or just too lazy) to think of an original name of your own? or are you deliberatly trying to cash in by making people think your new domain is the established domain, something that will put you in a no win situation if the original domain name owner decides to prosecute. Also think about this You could end up giving the original domain traffic that you could have had. Some people may not write down or bookmark your domain and then want to go back to it. They will remember the domain name but most lightly forget that it had a 1 at the front or end of it and thus will type in their address bar domain.com instead of 1domain.com or domain1.com
I would second this. If it is a common word such as cars airplanes etc. you should be fine but if the word is already trademarked citigroup, coke, etc. there would likely be trouble.