Can they sue me?

[friendclk]

Are you allowed to rank your site for any keyword you want? No matter if it is a trademarked term? There's nothing the company can do?

If all of my inbound links (off page seo) have the trademarked term in the anchor text, and the company can prove I made all the links, can they sue me?

[Karen Barr]

You need to consult a legal professional. My layman's understanding is that it would depend on the nature of your website. If you are using the trademarked term to drive traffic to a site which is giving the impression of being an official outlet or similar, then I believe that is known as "passing off" and certainly could be subject to legal action.

[serena85]

Depends on the legally terms that are applied in your country. You could get sue based on using a logo or a name that is registered and it is a trademark. Just to give you an example, in my country even if I say "McDonald`s is the best" they still can sue me because I do not have their permission.

[StoneWilson]

Yes, they can sue you. Most of company didn't allow trademark abused by others.

[Canuckystan]

Yes, they can absolutely sue you. The question is whether they would be successful in court. Would be an expensive way to find out.

Are you using the TM terms knowing that people are clicking on your site because they think there is a link with your site and TM terms? Or is it pure coincidence.

Be honest with yourself - if you are trying to profit from their TM terms then you are likely in the wrong.

[HKSEO Rotzee]

People CAN sue you for anything. Will they win? That depends. If you are doing ON PAGE, for sure...it has happened. And adwords will even ban you for doing it. Off page, it is possible as well in certain instances....but less likely than on page IMO.

Your definitely carrying a stack of glass dishes across a lake of ice...you better be careful

[kazlas]

Well, If they want to sue you I would really advise you this trick. Say something like "You will need a lawyer and sh.it and all that time to bother with a little guy like me. How about this deal - you pay me 1k dollah and I transfer your stinkin domain, how about that?" they should definitely agree. Of course, make sure you fill full page of the search term so before transfer domain would get sandboxed - win win!

[paulgl]

You are allowed to rank your website for any keyword you wish.

I'm not sure why people fail to read the question.

Nobody has a monopoly on keywords. Or search results.

Search engines results would be quite empty, now wouldn't they?

In fact, the silliness is that google ranks you for the keyword(s)
THEY wish! They would have to sue google to remove you from
the results. Google has been sued and removed inflammatory
and illegal stuff. But if you want to rank for ipad, nobody can
really stop you. You can rank for ipad without breaking any laws.

Paul

[kazlas]

Originally Posted by paulgl

You are allowed to rank your website for any keyword you wish.

I'm not sure why people fail to read the question.

Nobody has a monopoly on keywords. Or search results.

Search engines results would be quite empty, now wouldn't they?

In fact, the silliness is that google ranks you for the keyword(s)
THEY wish! They would have to sue google to remove you from
the results. Google has been sued and removed inflammatory
and illegal stuff. But if you want to rank for ipad, nobody can
really stop you. You can rank for ipad without breaking any laws.

Paul

So... You say that dude which took company's name and used logo and stuff doesn't get the blame just because google ranked him? Remember, traffic may go to the site not just from the SE's, site with logo and company domain name still exists, doesn't matter if its ranking or not.

[HKSEO Rotzee]

Originally Posted by paulgl

You are allowed to rank your website for any keyword you wish.

I'm not sure why people fail to read the question.

Nobody has a monopoly on keywords. Or search results.

Search engines results would be quite empty, now wouldn't they?

In fact, the silliness is that google ranks you for the keyword(s)
THEY wish! They would have to sue google to remove you from
the results. Google has been sued and removed inflammatory
and illegal stuff. But if you want to rank for ipad, nobody can
really stop you. You can rank for ipad without breaking any laws.

Paul

The question isn't can you rank for ipad...its...

If all of my inbound links (off page seo) have the trademarked term in the anchor text, and the company can prove I made all the links, can they sue me?

...and they answer is YES, especially if your outranking apple for ipads. And even if they DON'T win, they have enough money to keep you in court for two life times and not even feel it financially.

I'm sure they pay someone to market for them and if some dinky do website starts outranking them for their own product, they guy they are paying a nice salary too is going to get together with a lawyer. Apple has a much higher trust rank than www.ipad-dinky-do.com and it would be hard to outrank it with any "legal" methods.

[Derek S]

They cannot sue you for RANKING

They CAN sue you if you use their trademark in your domain or if your site content can be found as misleading people into thinking your site is the official site...

They cannot sue you for backlinks being built unless you build them with the intention people will think the link takes them to the official site.

Want to be safe? have the words "a review on" "my site on" before the anchor text link.

Want to be even safer? Have the location of where you live clearly stated on the main page of your site so if any legal action IS taken, they will have to take such action in your home town. This makes legal fees and travel fees VERY inconvenient/expensive for the people trying to sue you - Most times if they are actually being serious and not just BS empty threats, this can be enough to have them forget about taking any serious legal action.

[paulgl]

Maybe I need to have my eyes examined. It sure looks like the
question is:

Are you allowed to rank your site for any keyword you want? No matter if it is a trademarked term? There's nothing the company can do?

I see nothing about using trademarked images, copyrighted content,
logos, etc.

Just do a search for ipad. See if google is going to remove the
billion websites they found. See if apple is going to sue all
billion websites. Even take a look at the adwords paid ads for ipad.

Such silliness abounds.

How do you think amazon, ebay, craigslist, buy, wikipedia, nextag, and a billion
other websites rank for just such trademarked terms? They even
use images. So do I. I get them by using the amazon affiliate program.

Such silliness.

Note to self: Next time I blog about iphones, make the page no-index.
I sure would not want it ranking!

Paul

[Derek S]

Originally Posted by paulgl

I see nothing about using trademarked images, copyrighted content,
logos, etc.

Just do a search for ipad. See if google is going to remove the
billion websites they found. See if apple is going to sue all
billion websites. Even take a look at the adwords paid ads for ipad.

Such silliness abounds.

How do you think amazon, ebay, craigslist, buy, wikipedia, nextag, and a billion
other websites rank for just such trademarked terms? They even
use images. So do I. I get them by using the amazon affiliate program.

Such silliness.

The issue comes down to sites only selling one specific product on only one specific website (like so many do with sniper sites and so on).

Anytime trademarked images and such are used to educate people this falls under the category of Fair Use and you cannot be touched... However when you use their trademarks for financial gain... this is an entirely different ball game best explained to you further by your lawyer.

Sure the internet is so vast you can get away with almost anything, but always do so prepared to be the exception... The one who didn't didnt get away with it and was made an example of all due to just how many others are following in your footsteps.

[HKSEO Rotzee]

Originally Posted by paulgl

Maybe I need to have my eyes examined. It sure looks like the
question is:



I see nothing about using trademarked images, copyrighted content,
logos, etc.

Just do a search for ipad. See if google is going to remove the
billion websites they found. See if apple is going to sue all
billion websites. Even take a look at the adwords paid ads for ipad.

Such silliness abounds.

How do you think amazon, ebay, craigslist, buy, wikipedia, nextag, and a billion
other websites rank for just such trademarked terms? They even
use images. So do I. I get them by using the amazon affiliate program.

Such silliness.

Note to self: Next time I blog about iphones, make the page no-index.
I sure would not want it ranking!

Paul

Type i-pad in google....none of those sites you listed rank above APPLE. And the day they do, i'm sure that site will get on their radar.

As for having you eyes checked.

Are you allowed to rank your site for any keyword you want? No matter if it is a trademarked term? There's nothing the company can do?

If all of my inbound links (off page seo) have the trademarked term in the anchor text, and the company can prove I made all the links, can they sue me?

He asked a two part question. And they answer is YES, they can. Will they win? Who knows, do you want to find out if you can financially afford it? Probably not. Will they ever even TRY to sue you? I guess that depends on if it begins to noticeably effect them financially.

[strategic seo services]

Originally Posted by friendclk

Are you allowed to rank your site for any keyword you want? No matter if it is a trademarked term? There's nothing the company can do?

If all of my inbound links (off page seo) have the trademarked term in the anchor text, and the company can prove I made all the links, can they sue me?

That's a good question. I'd advise contacting a lawyer to get a correct answer.

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by HKSEO Rotzee

Type i-pad in google....none of those sites you listed rank above APPLE. And the day they do, i'm sure that site will get on their radar.

WHO SAID LISTED ABOVE APPLE???????????????

The question was ranked. You can get on the first page for any term
you select. What planet are you living on?

When I search I get paid ads of
bidrack, ebay, flutteroo, amazon, arrowoutlet, etc. All
bid on the term ipad.

As results, I see in the top 10:
wikipedia, cnet, amazon, gizmodo, youtube, crunchgear

5 out of the top 10 slots do not belong to apple. They are
ranking just fine.

Let's see apple sue them for getting ranked.

Silliness. Just mega-silliness.

Maybe you don't realize that prchecker.info and wikipedia
rank #1 and 2 for the trademarked term PageRank.

Get a grip on reality people. Seriously.

If you can't build anchor links with trademarked terms, then
you can't build urls with them either.

Note to everyone: Do not do blog posts on trademarked items.
Do not do canonical urls. Do not build anchor text with the term.
make all such posts and pages noindex.

See how silly that is? Half the people here are trying (and doing)
to rank for a trademarked term!!!!!!!!!

Paul

[kindsvater]

It depends on the overall context of the links.

Consider these examples and assume I am linking the words 'Sony Playstation' to my website:

Here is a picture of my new Sony Playstation. It's great. My favorite game is ...

versus

The Official Sony Playstation website.

The first is not a problem. The latter is.

.

[paulgl]

ipadsforsale.org ranks #5 for ipads for sale.
You don't think they are building backlinks with text, ipads for sale?
Is this really news to you people? Linking with terms like that?
WOW!

Paul

[razorhound]

Unless you used the trademark term in your domain, I don't think they will sue you for ranking their keywords, or else no one would be talking about their product at all. And you can easily take down your competitor if that's the case.

[babybird]

dude watch out the last thing u need is some major corporation trying to take all your money

[HKSEO Rotzee]

Originally Posted by paulgl

WHO SAID LISTED ABOVE APPLE???????????????

The question was ranked. You can get on the first page for any term
you select. What planet are you living on?

YEAH, and we said that you could do that..but we also said IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS......YOU CAN GET SUED. One of those situations is pretending to be an official site and then ranking above the site or even near it probably.

When I search I get paid ads of
bidrack, ebay, flutteroo, amazon, arrowoutlet, etc. All
bid on the term ipad.

As results, I see in the top 10:
wikipedia, cnet, amazon, gizmodo, youtube, crunchgear

5 out of the top 10 slots do not belong to apple. They are
ranking just fine.

Let's see apple sue them for getting ranked.

Silliness. Just mega-silliness.

Yeah, there is a HUGE difference between the sites you named..and what we are talking about. Your talking about encyclopedias and affiliate sites which are given permission to use the term. The companies that OWN the trademark can give people permission to use it if they choose.

Youtube is actually a great point for me actually, there are tens of thousands of videos that ranked first page for trademarked songs and when WMG decided to enforce it what happened? The videos got taken down or blocked. What planet do I live on? The real one, what looney-toon planet do YOU live on?

Maybe you don't realize that prchecker.info and wikipedia
rank #1 and 2 for the trademarked term PageRank.

Get a grip on reality people. Seriously.

If you can't build anchor links with trademarked terms, then
you can't build urls with them either.

Note to everyone: Do not do blog posts on trademarked items.
Do not do canonical urls. Do not build anchor text with the term.
make all such posts and pages noindex.

See how silly that is? Half the people here are trying (and doing)
to rank for a trademarked term!!!!!!!!!

Paul

Now, again...not everyone one is going to get enforced...it depends on if you are helping them make money or taken money from them. It depends on if your on the radar or not. Just because people don't get CAUGHT doing things...don't mean its not illegal.
I guess you don't think torrents and downloading pirated material is illegal either because so many people do it and don't get in trouble.

In America, companies have the CHOICE to enforce their trademarks. And they can do this especially if used for commerce. If they don't enforce them like asprin, or zipper you run the risk of losing the trademark because it becomes a genericized trademark.

Here are some examples that have lost their trademark...

asprin
yo-yo
thermise
zipper
heroin

...and some that almost have....

q-tip
xerox
kleenex
band-aid

We worked with American Express and even though we used them to process millions of dollars a month in rent, we could not refer to them at ALL in any marketing materials without specific approval of that piece. They maintained really strict brand controls.

[JenocideInside]

I would try to come up with other keywords if I were you, just in case. That is a gray area, pretty iffy if you ask me.

[gtk29]

Large corporations do not waste time suing smaller (comparatively) site owners - not much money for them in it compared to time and funds wasted on lawyers. They sue other large corporations instead.

[anjoh77]

HELP!!!!! eHARMONY IS SUING ME!!! omg for a lil stinking website called global-e-harmony.com. I had no idea that my site would cause such a ruckus! I worked hard on this crap and its not their name. Why didn't they register global-e-harmony if they wanted that domain. Haven't they been in business since Jesus was born? This is bs and I'm mad about it. I worked very hard learning how to setup a site and I still have a whole lot to learn. The site isn't making a ton of money ok? And its a new site. Clearly, this is not their name and they want my site!!!! They want me to give them my site. Just like that. Like I can put them out of business or something. As if I'm some huge threat. So I've added (not affiliated with eharmony or his brand) on the front page to try and stop this nonsense. Eharmony had millions of members. I have ALL OF FIVE and they want my fricking site. How crazy is this? Who does this? Do you mean to tell me that of all the geniuses they've got working for them not one could think to register global-e-harmony? Yet, they wait til I do it and want to snatch it from me? I know these people know this site is harmless to them. I think this is capitalism run amok. No one should have this kind of power. I guess this would make sense to me if I had named the site eharmonyglobal and was spending millions on marketing but this is soooo far from that. But my site isn't called that and I'm not doing that! My site is number 26,000,000 on google. Now you tell me where the threat is. If anyone should feel threatened, its me. After I registered this site, I immediately thought why would people go to my site when its so much easier to remember eharmony? I had already spent the money though and thought I'd make the best of it and use the site as learning tool more or less. If I make a few bucks, all the better. Everybody on the planet knows how eharmony is spelled and used. I'm just really po'd that people can try and get away with this. I guess we won't be able to use any words pretty soon. I don't recall them creating the letter e or the words global or harmony in the English language.

Any advice for me? Should I call those ICANN people they're talking about? How do you reach them anyway?

This makes me very sad because I worked so hard and I had to learn a lot to set up this fricking site not mention the money I spent and the time I put in. When you don't have money, you gotta put in the time. I've been working around the clock reading stuff to learn how to drive traffic to my site. Not one single visitor has come from eharmony. Its not even a high traffic site so what are they afraid of? I just don't get it.

[Kay King]

on

HELP!!!!! eHARMONY IS SUING ME!!! omg for a lil stinking website called global-e-harmony.com. I had no idea that my site would cause such a ruckus! I worked hard on this crap and its not their name. Why didn't they register global-e-harmony if they wanted that domain. Haven't they been in business since Jesus was born? This is bs and I'm mad about it. I worked very hard learning how to setup a site and I still have a whole lot to learn.

I'm just really po'd that people can try and get away with this.

And the company is PO'd that you thought you could get away with using THEIR registered trademark to create your own dating site. This is a failure on YOUR part. If you look up eharmony - the first thing you see is a trademark registration "mark" at the end of the name. That's a big clue that it's a BRAND NAME. Adding a hyphen or a word doesn't change that.

So I've added (not affiliated with eharmony or his brand) on the front page to try and stop this nonsense.

That is not going to help you. What should you do? You should immediately shut down the site - transfer the name as requested - or your problems can and will get worse.

Eharmony is not afraid of you or your site. They paid for their trademark and they must protect that trademark or they could lose it.

All of your arguments and excuses are meaningless. If you had done your research when you started, you'd know NOT to use trademarked brand names in your url.

[dburk]

Originally Posted by anjoh77

HELP!!!!! eHARMONY IS SUING ME!!! omg for a lil stinking website called global-e-harmony.com. I had no idea that my site would cause such a ruckus! I worked hard on this crap and its not their name. Why didn't they register global-e-harmony if they wanted that domain. Haven't they been in business since Jesus was born? This is bs and I'm mad about it. I worked very hard learning how to setup a site and I still have a whole lot to learn. The site isn't making a ton of money ok? And its a new site. Clearly, this is not their name and they want my site!!!! They want me to give them my site. Just like that. Like I can put them out of business or something. As if I'm some huge threat. So I've added (not affiliated with eharmony or his brand) on the front page to try and stop this nonsense. Eharmony had millions of members. I have ALL OF FIVE and they want my fricking site. How crazy is this? Who does this? Do you mean to tell me that of all the geniuses they've got working for them not one could think to register global-e-harmony? Yet, they wait til I do it and want to snatch it from me? I know these people know this site is harmless to them. I think this is capitalism run amok. No one should have this kind of power. I guess this would make sense to me if I had named the site eharmonyglobal and was spending millions on marketing but this is soooo far from that. But my site isn't called that and I'm not doing that! My site is number 26,000,000 on google. Now you tell me where the threat is. If anyone should feel threatened, its me. After I registered this site, I immediately thought why would people go to my site when its so much easier to remember eharmony? I had already spent the money though and thought I'd make the best of it and use the site as learning tool more or less. If I make a few bucks, all the better. Everybody on the planet knows how eharmony is spelled and used. I'm just really po'd that people can try and get away with this. I guess we won't be able to use any words pretty soon. I don't recall them creating the letter e or the words global or harmony in the English language.

Any advice for me? Should I call those ICANN people they're talking about? How do you reach them anyway?

This makes me very sad because I worked so hard and I had to learn a lot to set up this fricking site not mention the money I spent and the time I put in. When you don't have money, you gotta put in the time. I've been working around the clock reading stuff to learn how to drive traffic to my site. Not one single visitor has come from eharmony. Its not even a high traffic site so what are they afraid of? I just don't get it.

Hi anjoh77,

You are being sued because you used a confusingly similar trade name to compete with holder of the trademark. That is classic trademark infringement and your competitor has an obligation to sue you or they will lose their trademark rights. That is how trademark law works, if you don't defend it you lose it.

Stop crying about it and register a domain name that doesn't infringe on a trademark term and use 301 redirects to point your traffic to the new domain.

[cbpayne]

Originally Posted by paulgl

You can rank for ipad without breaking any laws.

Not quite right; if you had iPad in the domain name, then you are illegally infringing on Apples trademark and they can come after you.

Originally Posted by anjoh77

HELP!!!!! eHARMONY IS SUING ME!!! omg for a lil stinking website called global-e-harmony.com. I had no idea that my site would cause such a ruckus! I worked hard on this crap and its not their name. Why didn't they register global-e-harmony if they wanted that domain.

Its their trademark and you are using it illegally. Its that simple.

Originally Posted by Kay King

All of your arguments and excuses are meaningless. If you had done your research when you started, you'd know NOT to use trademarked brand names in your url.

EXACTLY; anyone notice how many sites for sale on flippa with ipad or iphone in the domain name?

[JamesGw]

I'm not sure, but I'd assume it depends on how you're ranking for the trademarked term. For example, I think if you use their trademark in your domain, then you could get into trouble. Perhaps the same for the title, but it's hard to say there. I don't think you can get into trouble for using a trademarked term in your anchor text, but I could be wrong.

[cbpayne]

Originally Posted by JamesGw

I'm not sure, but I'd assume it depends on how you're ranking for the trademarked term. For example, I think if you use their trademark in your domain, then you could get into trouble. Perhaps the same for the title, but it's hard to say there. I don't think you can get into trouble for using a trademarked term in your anchor text, but I could be wrong.

You can use a trademarked word in a URL, but you can not register it as a domain.....You can write about a trademarked name in an article, does it matter if that trademarked word/name is linked or not? I would do it and not worry about it.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by paulgl

You are allowed to rank your website for any keyword you wish.

I'm not sure why people fail to read the question.

Nobody has a monopoly on keywords. Or search results.

Search engines results would be quite empty, now wouldn't they?

In fact, the silliness is that google ranks you for the keyword(s)
THEY wish! They would have to sue google to remove you from
the results. Google has been sued and removed inflammatory
and illegal stuff. But if you want to rank for ipad, nobody can
really stop you. You can rank for ipad without breaking any laws.

Paul

Agreed!

In fact anyone can rank any site for a specific keyword If they really wanted to, for whatever reason they may have.

Don't you people remember a few years back, a lot of sites would keyword stuff their own sites "Keyword Meta" tag with the competitions domain name. That's one of the reasons Google put a stop to the "Keyword Meta" tag.

Keyword stuffing competitions domain names still goes on today with large sites.

Look at retailmenot[dot]com they rank #1 in Google organic search for the keyword jcpenney coupon , the actual jcpenney domain is #2.

Have a look at that retailmenot URL, pretty clever on-page SEO don't ya think?

1) www.retailmenot.com/view/jcpenney.com

Other examples:

2) www.retailmenot.com/view/llbean.com

3) www.retailmenot.com/view/landsend.com

4) www.retailmenot.com/view/orientaltrading.com

It's a good idea to watch what the big boys are doing, let them pay the big money for seo, then imitate.

[cbpayne]

Originally Posted by cbpayne

Not quite right; if you had iPad in the domain name, then you are illegally infringing on Apples trademark and they can come after you...........anyone notice how many sites for sale on flippa with ipad or iphone in the domain name?

Before anyone wants to argue with me (I been around that one several time). Here is the quote from Apple Inc:

9. Domain Names: You may not use an identical or virtually identical Apple trademark as a second level domain name.

Apple - Legal - Copyright and Trademark Guidelines
It does not get any clearer than that.

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by yukon

It's a good idea to watch what the big boys are doing, let them pay the big money for seo, then imitate.

Isn't friggin' funny how we keep saying that, then people go off on a tangent
about they get some penalty and are fearful? Fearful of what? Success?

Man you could get some good lessons by paying close attention to amazon,
wikipedia, craigslist, buy, ebay, etc. Anything from page design and seo
on page elements, to internal linking, even domain names!

Then you have people who don't pay close attention, and start
a dating site using e-harmony in the domain. Makes you wonder.

No doubt you could have a legit reason for using some variation of
e-harmony in a domain. And fight for it. But for a dating site?

Many companies and sites are pretty free with their brand names.

When you choose to use one, choose wisely.

They don't want your site. They don't want you using e-harmony
for a dating site. That is a pretty clear cut case of how NOT to
use any trademarked terms.

Speaking of dating sites, someone took the domain zoosk.com and
became a major player. Go figure.

Paul

[Kay King]

You can use a trademarked word in a URL, but you can not register it as a domain....

You are more likely to get by with that - but not always. I've had to take two articles off sites because a trademark was used in the title of the articles and in the file name url.

I still do that at times - and only had those two problems mentioned above. If requested, I immediately remove the offending file.

What I hate is the whining and macho stuff posted after someone has been called on trademark infringement. You did it - own it - apologize - take it down and move on.

kay

[nicktyler]

It was pretty hard to read all this thread in one go especially the catty bit in the middle but paulgl is definatly where my money is in this warmed a little discussion!!

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by cbpayne

Before anyone wants to argue with me (I been around that one several time). Here is the quote from Apple Inc:Apple - Legal - Copyright and Trademark Guidelines
It does not get any clearer than that.

That's why people register ipadaccessories.com and do it legally.

Apple has an army of loyal followers. The are pretty free with using their
trademarks in a domain so long as you follow the rules.

Do a search for ipad accessories. They rank just fine.

If you have a legit reason for some term, and you bought a domain, well,
how much are you willing to fight for it? But if you use e-harmony in a
dating site, well.....

But don't misread me. I would never be a fool and register a domain using
trademarked terms and try and go into business, nor knowingly infringe
on them. Nor do I propose people do that. I value my online business too much.

If you value your online ways of making money, especially adsense, you won't
even be thinking about trademarks and domains.

Paul

[kindsvater]

Originally Posted by gtk29

Large corporations do not waste time suing smaller (comparatively) site owners - not much money for them in it compared to time and funds wasted on lawyers. They sue other large corporations instead.

This is completely wrong. Smaller site owners are easier targets who often quickly cave in, default, or cannot properly defend themselves.

.

[jaysol]

Interesting topic ! I never thought about this cause I do have 3 sites that I guess I am on the border line when it comes to trademark issues.

Definitely some food for thought here cause my sites are on the 1st page on Google and so I am getting some exposure there.

Thankyou all.

[anjoh77]

Thanks Dburk. The funny part is I was thinking about changing the name anyway after I learned about the lawsuits eharmony has going through. Who needs that baggage? They want the site and I'm serious. First, I didn't know eharmony was trademarked and I discovered that after I named the site. They just did it in January. Even if I did know that at time I named my site, I really thought you could use a variation of a name but not the name itself where trademark law was concerned. They want me to transfer the site to them and they're suing for $100k They paid an attorney more to sue me than the site is worth. I'm not giving them my site but I will help them calm down by changing the name. Why are so many people against dating sites in this forum? Has anyone ever done before? Every topic is over saturated on the internet so I really don't listen to a lot negative talk about what I choose do. It is rude and I don't do that to other people. I just need help getting what I choose to do done. I don't want to do spend my days sending emails to people and they have to click on a big yellow bar that says "add to cart" after listening to a rambling 45 minute "seminar" where some guy is lying about how he made millions (and alll the while saying "this is not a get rich quick scheme"). I like things that get to the point. I don't want to read nor ask anyone else to read a four page thing and a "add to cart" button is waiting for them at the end. I never read that stuff. I immediately scroll to bottom of the page and if there's a click me anything there, I move one. One less lie to deal with that day. I don't want to tell people I'm giving them my complimentary thing and ask them to click the box to buy. Its not honest and there's way too much online now. So please if you're gonna help, do that. Otherwise, no need to respond folks. I do appreciate the honesty and sound advice from those who responded.

[ProvenViral]

Just make sure you don't use trademark names - my friend got it for using Gillette razors...

[dburk]

Originally Posted by anjoh77

Thanks Dburk. The funny part is I was thinking about changing the name anyway after I learned about the lawsuits eharmony has going through. Who needs that baggage? They want the site and I'm serious. First, I didn't know eharmony was trademarked and I discovered that after I named the site. They just did it in January. Even if I did know that at time I named my site, I really thought you could use a variation of a name but not the name itself where trademark law was concerned. They want me to transfer the site to them and they're suing for $100k They paid an attorney more to sue me than the site is worth. I'm not giving them my site but I will help them calm down by changing the name. Why are so many people against dating sites in this forum? Has anyone ever done before? Every topic is over saturated on the internet so I really don't listen to a lot negative talk about what I choose do. It is rude and I don't do that to other people. I just need help getting what I choose to do done. I don't want to do spend my days sending emails to people and they have to click on a big yellow bar that says "add to cart" after listening to a rambling 45 minute "seminar" where some guy is lying about how he made millions (and alll the while saying "this is not a get rich quick scheme"). I like things that get to the point. I don't want to read nor ask anyone else to read a four page thing and a "add to cart" button is waiting for them at the end. I never read that stuff. I immediately scroll to bottom of the page and if there's a click me anything there, I move one. One less lie to deal with that day. I don't want to tell people I'm giving them my complimentary thing and ask them to click the box to buy. Its not honest and there's way too much online now. So please if you're gonna help, do that. Otherwise, no need to respond folks. I do appreciate the honesty and sound advice from those who responded.

Hi anjoh77,

Technically, it isn't the site they want, it is the domain name. You can transfer the domain name to them, or just drop it. You may want to explain that you were unaware of their trademark and that you haven't had the site up long enough to make a profit. Offer to transfer the domain name to them in exchange for dropping the lawsuit. Hopefully, you had the wisdom to create a corporation/LLC to shield your personal liability.

[scorpio9]

38 replies and the correct answer is still up for debate!
The best thing you can do is seek legal advice from people who study internet law, advice on, here whilst well intended, should be taken with a grain of salt!

Lee

[Kurt]

Originally Posted by Kay King

All of your arguments and excuses are meaningless. If you had done your research when you started, you'd know NOT to use trademarked brand names in your url.

Sorry Kay, I disagree. You can use trademarked names if URLs, you can't use them in domain names. There's a big difference.

Originally Posted by Kay King

You are more likely to get by with that - but not always. I've had to take two articles off sites because a trademark was used in the title of the articles and in the file name url.

I still do that at times - and only had those two problems mentioned above. If requested, I immediately remove the offending file.

What I hate is the whining and macho stuff posted after someone has been called on trademark infringement. You did it - own it - apologize - take it down and move on.

kay

Who "made" you? This is infringing on your freedom of speach. If Green Widget's device kills 500 people, are you saying the LA Times can't have an article titled "Green Widget's new device kills 500 people"?

[Kurt]

Originally Posted by kindsvater

It depends on the overall context of the links.

Consider these examples and assume I am linking the words 'Sony Playstation' to my website:

Here is a picture of my new Sony Playstation. It's great. My favorite game is ...

versus

The Official Sony Playstation website.

The first is not a problem. The latter is.

.

Originally Posted by scorpio9

38 replies and the correct answer is still up for debate!
The best thing you can do is seek legal advice from people who study internet law, advice on, here whilst well intended, should be taken with a grain of salt!

Lee

Brian Kindsvater is an attorney. Pay attention to his post.

[LucySands]

hmm how about for credit card affiliates?

[cbpayne]

Originally Posted by LucySands

hmm how about for credit card affiliates?

What about credit card affiliates?

[dagaul101]

If it's a trademarked term it's best to get permission first from the company before getting a cease and desist letter

[cbpayne]

Originally Posted by dagaul101

If it's a trademarked term it's best to get permission first from the company before getting a cease and desist letter

What for? Why would anyone want to waste time doing that for? I can write about any company and any trademarked name I like and there is nothing they can do about. What I can't do is register a domain name using it expect to be able to keep it.

[derekwong28]

Originally Posted by dagaul101

If it's a trademarked term it's best to get permission first from the company before getting a cease and desist letter

The chances are that you will not get a reply at all. Only people high up in the company can give written permission like that. They are not going to waste time answering letters like that.

[dan@wejustlink]

they could maybe try and sue you if you posed as the company whos trademark it is but if you rank higher than them it's their fault for not SEOing properly. Still look up some legal advice, i wouldnt risk it for a chocolate biscuit in this case

[Peter Gehr]

If you're using the trademark name in your domain you could be potentially sued.

I've had a couple of sites in the past that were generated by an automated system, and I had outsourced the content and seo, and before I knew it I had a "cease and desist" letter come to my door.

If you are not using any trademarked name in the domain name, but using it as a keyword in your content, then you may want to add a line at the bottom of your Home page that states something like:

"This is an independent website and not the official website of "trademark name" nor is this website a representative of "trademark name." All information is provided for the benefit of the consumer."

That said, it really does depend on where you are and what the laws are. To avoid expensive lawyers fees and hassle, I'd suggest you avoid completely anything that looks remotely like a trademark infringement.

Lastly, and most importantly, you should seek legal counsel if you intend proceeding with the use of trademarked materials or Intellectual Property (IP).