Hi i own the domain names Sinners Lingerie.co.uk and .com but have recently found that a small supplier in Birmingham (I am UK) has a range that they produced themselves called sinners... What legal liability am I under, for example could they tell me I can not use the domain or that I have to give it them? If you can even point me to a web page or statute that i can work from (I study law but only first year so i have not got into this stuff yet and have no clue where to start, however i do have access to a legal database of hundreds of thousands of cases because of this...which i could use if someone gives me a starting point) Thank you for your help. (just
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-text/ It looks like they can kiss your ...... Maybe one day they might try and intimidate you into handing over your domain name but it is yours, and the longer it is yours the more expensive it is going to get isn't it?
Even if it's not a registered trade mark, couldn't they start proceedings on the grounds of it being their registered business name?
Their business name is 2CDDesigns they just make a product themselves and then named it "sinners" and ofc its lingerie...
Ah, wouldn't be any problem then that I can see. I'm not a lawyer but if it's an unregistered trade mark, not their business name, should be fine
Well, if my dog's not licensed as required in some U.S. states, then does that mean my pet's not a dog? Legendary11, you might be shocked to learn that registration isn't required for a trademark to exist. Trademarks, especially in the U.S. and U.K. (where much of U.S. common laws came from) itself, are created through use in commerce, although registration does give more benefits than common law mark users. Essentially the main questions here are is the party in question able to provide proof of trademark usage for the word/s, and when did they start. I'll hazard a guess (and I can be wrong) the party is indeed using the word as a mark for sexy lingerie and what not from what I managed to find online. If they're able to demonstrate such and show their usage began before you've used the domain, then those aren't working in your favor. Unfortunately I am not that familiar with U.K. trademark laws, so only a solicitor with real-world experience there can better tell you. Of course, you don't have to take my word for it, and feel free to search your database as you mentioned. Then again, neither should you take some words from some posters here either.
Issue with my database is i need a case or statute to start with and then i can go through all the related cases and statutes to get a definitive answer... If i registered Sinners Lingerie as my company name (which i was planning to soon) would that in anyway help the situation?
If the company in question saw what you're doing and can demonstrate mark usage before you registered and used the domain the way you're doing now, probably not.
Well I'm a registered to their site for dropshipping with that domain name and even reffered to my site in phone convosations and they havnt said anything, I don't want to start branding further and have the site eccectivly stole... Shouldn't they have said something?