Is it legal to own a domain with another company's trademark in it? Like is it legal for adsense-secrets.com to be selling an eBook? And is it legal to have a site like ebaysecrets.com?
Your questions are fairly broad. "Adsense" is a protectible trademark, for sure. "Ebay" is obviously a protectible trademark as well. That said, a cornerstone of Trademark law, is that the public can use otherwise protectible trademarks under some circumstances. It's somewhat inaccurate to refer to trademark use as "legal" or "illegal"--it is more accurate to refer to use as "infringing" or "non-infringing". One of the circumstances under which one can use the trademark of another is if the allegedly infringing use is "unlikely to cause confusion in the marketplace" between the actual mark and the allegedly infringing mark. Ebay has sued "BidBay" and "Coinbay"--in that circumstance, a consumer could easily be confused between the origin of the two products. Something like "ebay secrets" is fairly obviously a supplementary commentary, and not a direct competitive challenge that is likely to be understood by the public as some sort of ebay property. What you REALLY should do is read their policy on this (you won't get an absolute answer, but you'll get some clarity): Use of eBay Names, Logos, Screenshots or Domain Names Do you have a question regarding the use of the eBay name or logo? Would you like to link from your website to the eBay homepage or to a list of your eBay auctions? Are you unsure about registering a domain name, which contains "eBay" in it? The guidelines below will give you an idea of what might be allowed. All questions in this area or permission requests should be directed to . The eBay Name It is generally permissible for you to refer to eBay on your website, in auction listings or in advertisements in a descriptive manner. For example, you might say "Check out my antique items on eBay," or "I sell on eBay." By the way, eBay is always spelled "eBay"; it is never spelled "Ebay" or "e-Bay." You should not refer to eBay in any way that might lead someone to believe that your company or site is sponsored by, affiliated with, or endorsed by eBay. If you are unsure about a particular use of the eBay name, write to . The eBay Logo The eBay name and logo are registered trademarks in the United States and many other countries. We generally do not permit the use of the eBay logo by third parties absent a written license agreement. We usually do not permit the use of the eBay logo on any type of promotional materials, flyers or websites, or in your auction listings. We also do not permit third parties to make or sell merchandise, homemade or otherwise, bearing the eBay logo, including but not limited to the following: Business cards (unless it is the Powersellersâ„¢ logo) Signage Shirts/Hats and other clothes Mailing labels Buttons Mugs Bean bag plush toys Dolls Miniature cars Toys Mousepads Store windows Coins eBay Affiliates Programâ„¢ It is also possible through the eBay Affiliates Program for you to earn money by having an eBay banner ad appear on your site. Click here to learn more about the Affiliates Program. PowerSellers Logo If you are a registered eBay Powerseller you can use the eBay Powersellers logo for certain uses. Please review the Powersellers Program Agreement to learn about the permitted uses. Linking to eBay From Your Website If you have a web site, you may be interested to know that you can go to the following page to obtain an eBay Button, which you can put on your site to link visitors to eBay's home page or to the list of your eBay auctions. Click here to learn more. Framing the eBay Site It is not permissible to frame or alter the way in which our web site is viewed. Framing generally means causing third party content to appear above or around the eBay site. eBay Domain Names While it has become very popular to register, use and sell domain names (including on eBay), it generally is not permissible to own, sell or use a domain name, which contains a trademark owned by another person or company. Click here for more information about selling domain names on eBay. eBay owns exclusive trademark rights in the eBay name in the United States and in many countries internationally. The ownership, use or sale of a domain name, which contains the eBay name, is not permitted because it is likely to be considered a trademark infringement. We do not give permission to third parties to register domain names containing "eBay." Also, eBay auction listings attempting to sell such domains are likely to be ended by eBay. Requests for Permission to Use eBay Logos or Screenshots We occasionally permit the use of eBay logos or screenshots by third parties. For example, we may permit the use of an eBay screen shot in a college text book or a motion picture. However, such uses of screenshots or the eBay logo usually require a written license from eBay. If you want to seek permission to use a logo or screen shot, please submit your request by going to our Permissions Request Form. If you should have any other questions or concerns regarding the use of eBay's trademarks or other intellectual property, please send us an email at . If you have questions unrelated to eBay trademarks, please go to eBay Help. If you can't find an answer to your question here, please contact Customer Support.
ebay sues virtually everyone (PerfumeBay) - Google has also sued for Adsense. It often comes down to is how aggressive a company is, and do they think it is infringement. If they think it is infringement, are you willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars proving they were wrong? If you win, you are still out that money. If they win, you can be ordered to pay treble their legal fees. Get permission to use those domains or forget about using them (imo). I don't think there is anyway ebay would allow it, and I don't know about google, but it does seem that they are less aggressive and have allowed usage in certain circumstances.