If I have a domain which includes the name of a big site, am I infringing TM laws? Say the site was called 'TOP' for the sake of this post, the site is TOPexperiment.tld. Is that bad? Or doesn't it matter?
It depends on a number of factors and is TM specific. If your site is in the same or similar field, it it likely infringement. If the TM is a famous mark like microsoft, then your usage doesn't even need to overlap to be infringement. If the term is very generic like "Top" then you would probably be ok. If you picked the domain hoping to ride the goodwill established by the TM, then its almost certainly infringement. A good trademark attorney could evaluate your actual name and give you a really good idea if you can expect problems.
It's pretty big. I'll give you a clue as I don't want to put the actual URL for private reasons, but it's owned by Google and has a lot of videos on it I'm doing an experiment to see whether it really is a good resource for getting traffic to your site. There's going to be a blog reporting on my progress...
Yeah, I'd have to say that what you're going to be able to report on your blog is a C&D letter from Google, if not a WIPO action filed against you. You're trading on the goodwill of their mark and on the potential for customer confusion. I'd drop it if I were you. Unless you're spoiling for a fight... In which case, you should consider saving for a legal fund now... Deena ________________________________________________________________________________ Any opinions are offered without knowledge of the specific law of your jurisdiction and with only the limited information provided in your post. No advice given here should be reasonably relied upon by you or any third party without consulting an attorney who is aware of all of the facts and law surrounding your situation. Any advice given here is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship in any way.
If you are having something like youtube or googlevideos in the url then I think it is really a TM infringement!!
Damn, was gonna do a test Nothing that would hurt YouTube's reputation, but guess it's still out of the question. Thanks for all your help, repped you all