hey everyone..I am thinking of starting a blog over some of my favorite hbo shows..I was trying to come up with a fun, creative type of name..maybe, sundaysblog?..i am curious if using hbo in the domain could be a trademark issue?..any ideas from the DP gang? thanks!
Well, it is best not to use any well known brands in your domain name. If you are unsure, you could write to HBO and ask if it is okay. If you get a clearance from them, you most definitely do not need to look across your shoulder each time.
yes..i may have to do that..i wouldnt think you could trademark three characters..but if the content is relavant to the trademark name maybe that could cause some trouble?
Well, if you go to http://www.hbo.com , you do see a little 'R' next to the name. I am sure it is for the registered trademark but I am not sure how far it goes as I do not have the document infront of me. But my bet is that for someone that big as them and with their legal team, I am sure they want to protect everything that they can. HBO is just a well-known name and if you utter that 3 letters next to each other, people will immediately associate it with Home Box Office. Besides you are going to blog about shows on HBO so that is going to be an immediate No-No. Of course if you run something like Housing Board of Oman, you might get by
LOL..nice example there but thanks for the comments eddy. No blog is worth legal trouble to me so I think I just need to steer clear of using hbo completely. Thanks for your help eddy!
This same thing was highlighted on Digg.com a while back. Since I'm newly registered here and thus considered a noob, I can't post a live url, but go to digg dot com and search (on the top right) for: digggames Check out all of the comments. There is some heated debate, but some very good explanations of the why and how behind using some other company's brandmark in your domain name.
Just so that you don't run into the same problems I did a few years ago, you should know that technically you can't have someone elses brand in your domain--crazy as that may sound. I had a website that had the word "Zippo" in its domain, and it was fine for about a year.. I built the site up to a PR7 and it became quite profitable... Then came a letter from the Zippo attorneys telling me that I had to shut down the site, and transfer the domain to their ownership, otherwise they would pursue further legal action.. Not a fun situation for someone who spent 2 years promoting the site.
Is that legally what you are required to do? I can see them making you take it down, but "transfer the domain" sounds like highway robbery. I hope they at least compensated you for the url.