I am starting a new company. There is a .co.uk name that would be idea for the buissines it is the companys name and also a good discription of what we do. However this domain has been registered since 2005 and is unused. When we register the trademark for the company name would we have any claim on this domain name?
That is a tough question. As I understand it(trademarking some stuff myself), if you can demonstrate "first use in commerce" than you can lay claim to it. Especially if the domain was never in use. I am dealing with this myself for one of my footer links. hope that helps a bit, IP law is some strange stuff. There are a few lawyers floating around that have been quite helpful lately. I am sure they will chime in sooner or later. Nigel
You would have no claim to the domain as long as they didn't start to use the domain in a manner that infringed upon your usage - they registered it before your trademark, so there is no bad faith.
If we're talking about US law, probably not. UK law, I don't know. If I were you, I'd contact the owner and see if you can make a deal for the name. If he's not using it for anything for 3 years now, maybe he'd sell it to you for a small profit... 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.