* I Might Be Getting Sued...NEED EXPERT SEO ADVICE *

[RockStarMarketing]

Hello all...

So I'm in a bit of a pickle.

Turns out I may be sued for trademark infringment.

My company name is very similar to another company name. Im not sure if im going to be sued for posetion of my website however? (Is that even possible?)

Anyhow my question is this....

If I do lose my site, which I have worked so hard to get high in the rankings (like over a years worth of dedicated marketing), can I replace the logo's and URL and keep my rankings? Or maybe just purchase another URL and do a redirect?

Its all a bit confusng to me...ANY help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!!!!!!

B

[InternetMarketingIQ]

The world may end tomorrow. Perhaps a call to your Attorney would be in order.

[AlphaWarrior]

If the trademark infringment is in the domain name, then you may lose the domain name and the ranking that goes with it, or you may be forced to stop using the url and, of course, that would stop any redirects.

If the trademark infringment is not in the domain name, but is in the content of your site, then change the content and get rid of the trademark infringment. Also, if the trademark infringment is not in the url, you should not lose the url because there would not be a reason to take the url away from you.

[paulgl]

If you can prove that your company is different than another company
with a similar name, let them sue away. The Beatles lost to apple.
Does not take much to defend yourself, just take the stand and explain
it. Demand a jury trial. Many companies have similar names.

Your domain is yours. You can use business names in your domain,
it does not matter. You just cannot advertise yourself as an
official site. I could give a million examples, but I won't. It's been
litigated. And companies and celebrities hate it. Anyone can buy
a domain: I hate____.com with anybody and company you wish and
make a hate site. Same with I love____.com as a fan site. It's
called freedom of speech in the US. And many, many people make
websites for fans such as wii games sites. Do a search for wii games
and see how many domains use wii in them.

If you use trademarked images, you need to take them down.

But domain names are fair game. How many football team fan sites
do you think there are? All completely unauthorized.

Just think of all the wordpress and blogspot blogs use trademarks
in their free blogs.

If it was that easy, don't you think Obama would get nobama.com
taken down? Let's not forget the grandaddy, hatewalmart.com

Do you think walmart and its billions could get that taken down?
Fat chance.

Paul

[timpears]

I can't see how you have given us enough information for us to give you any advice of even the slightest consequence. If we understood the nature of the problem, it might be different. But this is a legal problem, and therefore requires a legal professional to give you the answer.

Hell, we don't even know what country you are located in, and that may very well have some bearing on the matter. But I don't even know that for sure. But most law is based on the location in which you are based.

This sounds pretty serious. You need to consult a competent attorney. Advice from any of us is worth less than you paid for it, which is nothing. Following legal advice from non professionals can get you in more trouble than you may already be in. Hopefully it will end up as no problem, but until you talk to an attorney, you can not know for sure.

[Bellamy]

If you change your URL, you'll lose all your rankings. I doubt they would permit you to keep your original URL and 301 it.

As far as defending yourself legally, do some math. How much money does the site bring it, and how much would you estimate a lawyer would cost?

[jasonmorgan]

But domain names are fair game. How many football team fan sites
do you think there are? All completely unauthorized.

absolutely inaccurate and false information. domain names are not fair game.

miamidolphins.com is a recent example of a site being lost due to trademark violations and anything adult related with 'playboy' in the domain name doesn't last long. Try creating a site with wordpress in the domain name and see how long it lasts as well.

trademarks do apply to domain names. it's up to the trademark owner if they want to pursue the case.

and yeah, get a lawyer to sort this out for you. don't listen to some random guy from some random place on the internet giving law advice.

[Black Hat Cat]

But domain names are fair game. How many football team fan sites
do you think there are? All completely unauthorized.

How many crack dealers are there? All completely unauthorized.

Just because they haven't been caught doesn't mean they won't be, nor does it mean it's legal if they never are caught.

Anyone can buy a domain: I hate____.com with anybody and company you wish and
make a hate site. Same with I love____.com as a fan site.

That's not the same thing as creating a computer company and registering the name applecomputercompany.com. That won't fly. AppleLawncare.com probably would.