Trademark registration not necesary if you own the domain??

Discussion in 'Domain Names' started by richardsinla, Jun 19, 2010.

  1. #1
    im wondering if you own a domain name with the name of the product you sell,will that be enough to protect you from thieves,what if you own the xxxx.com domain name and someone goes and registers the same name with the trademark office(and builds a .net site??)
    then whos the real owner, the owner or the registrar of the brand at the tm office?or the domain owner
    does the domain ownership entitle you to market your brand??

    i understand legally if you get the domain and market the product you are the legit owner,but what if you buy a domain and are just trying to resell it
     
    richardsinla, Jun 19, 2010 IP
  2. VirtualSalesMachine

    VirtualSalesMachine Peon

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    #2
    If you wan't to be save in all situations, it's better to register the trademark, also.
     
    VirtualSalesMachine, Jun 20, 2010 IP
  3. Mystique

    Mystique Well-Known Member

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    #3
    This question is more likely related to legal issues, not to domain names, but here is something you said twised.

    If you market a product... one thing is marketing a product and another be the owner, developer or manufactured of such product.

    Let's say you are marketing exclusively a product that someone else produces, but you register the name of that product to protect from "thieve" the owner of that product may sue you for using their trademark as yours.
     
    Mystique, Jun 20, 2010 IP
  4. domainia

    domainia Peon

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    #4
    you should probabbly also register .net and .org if still available
     
    domainia, Jun 20, 2010 IP
  5. mjewel

    mjewel Prominent Member

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    #5
    Owning a domain name gives you ZERO trademark rights. Owning a domain does not give you rights to use it if it infringes upon an existing mark. First/continued usage of a mark in commerce establishes trademark rights for that particular usage. Trademark registration is not required in the US, however, if someone else registered the mark after you were using it, you will need to object to registration of the mark or apply for a cancellation of the mark. This can be pretty expensive. There can be multiple owners of a trademark, each with different usage rights. Unless someone is infringing upon your usage, you wouldn't be able to do anything about someone using the same mark with a different TLD. There are exceptions to this - famous marks and coined terms can have broader protection.
     
    mjewel, Jun 20, 2010 IP
  6. kuantum1122

    kuantum1122 Peon

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    #6
    thank you for tour clear explanation :)

    I have several trademark domain and I confuse with it
     
    kuantum1122, Jun 21, 2010 IP