Trademark Products and domain names?

[Bulldozer]

What if you are using the name of a trademark product in your site's domain?

Let me explain what I mean, using an example with Apple's popular iPad product.
Domains like: BestIpads.com or SuperIpads.com, etc.

Get the idea?
Apparently the word "iPad" is a trademark of Apple.
How safe it is to run a site that uses the trademark word "ipad" in it's domain name?
Do you need to ask Apple for permission to use it in your domain name so to be able to sell their product?

And don't get caught on the iPad word, my question is about using ALL kinds of names of trademark products, not just iPads.
Does it differ from case to case, etc?

Another practical example: If you see that the domain name IpadStore.com is up for sale would you jump all over it, thinking that it's the perfect name for an online ipad selling shop, or would you go like: "Wait a minute, this thing has a trademark word in it. Forget about it, it may get me into trouble".

Only answers from people with hands-on experience, please.

[Bulldozer]

I am bumping this.

[Kay King]

If you use the search function in the red toolbar above and search keywords for "trademark" in "title" you'll find pages of advice and explanation.

The basic advice is don't do it. Many companies can and will send you a legal notice to stop using their trademarked brand name.

[paulgl]

There's tons of domains with ipad in them, indexed, etc.
Apple loves their militant followers. Somewhere on their
site they have their guidelines for using their trademarks.
Remember, these are only "guidelines." Apple cannot
write any laws. They can't enforce their rules without legal
and law enforcement action.

Apple goes as far as giving grammar lessons on how to use
proper and improper abbreviations of their trademarks.
That's just crazy.
Apple - Legal - Copyright and Trademark Guidelines

Third parties cannot use a variation, phonetic equivalent, foreign language equivalent, takeoff, or abbreviation of an Apple trademark for any purpose. For example:

Not acceptable: Appletree Jackintosh Apple Cart PodMart

Remember, just because it's unacceptable to apple does not make it
against the law.

Many smart companies know that any publicity is good publicity.

Don't get me wrong.
I myself would stay away from anything trademarked, as it is against
adsense TOS if that's what the real question is.

Paul

[Bulldozer]

^ This is what puzzles me (and I will use the iPad example again but it goes for just about any trademark product name).

So, selling iPads and having an BuyIpads.com domain name is a no-no? I just don't get it...

There are retail stores on the internet, right?
And they comprise about 99% of all online stores.

How the hell is a retail store that specializes in retailing iPads going to do good business online and optimize their site for SEO if they are not allowed to have the name of the product they are selling in their site's domain name???????????????

Will they have to change their domain name from BuyIpads.com to something like BuyThatPopularGadgetThatAppleAreMarketingTheseDays .com?

[MikeFriedman]

Best Buy doesn't need the name iPad in the domain name to rank for it. It can still be in the URL though.

[JRCarson]

I got into trouble with a trademark name in the domain name...

BUT, it was a specific circumstance that got me in trouble, because I had an Amazon trademark name in the domain name. So they shut down my account and held my earnings for ransom until I gave them the domain name.

Long story short, I got my account back in good standing, and ended up getting paid. But the website is now gone, and all that work for nothing!

So if you are a part of the Apple affiliate program (first of all tell me how you got in!!), then I would really look over their terms of service, and don't use a trademark name in it. Make sense??

Otherwise, there's just the future threat of someone telling you to shut it down or else they will sue, then you have done all that work for nothing.

[Bulldozer]

^ Interesting, thanks for your reply!
So the worst thing that can happen is to get your domain stolen from you?
How long were you able to stay under the radar before the Amazon guys caught you?

[Bulldozer]

Originally Posted by MikeFriedman

Best Buy doesn't need the name iPad in the domain name to rank for it. It can still be in the URL though.

Yeah, but I don't see myself or any other online marketer getting on Best Buy's level any time soon.
Small scale retail stores need good SEO because they can't rely on scale - they're just too small. And an exact match domain name is very important for SEO.

[paulgl]

You can't have a domain stolen from you. That's one of the biggest
myths around. There is a legal process via ICANN. It's not
complicated and they must prove 5 points. (I think it's 5).
You also get to respond. You might be under the gun on two
fronts, stealing intellectual property, and domain dispute. The
first one would be a real court case.

They cannot just steal your domain. The only cases I know of
that are "stealing," are when the US Justice Dept declares your
site one of illegal activity. Like the poker sites that just got shut.
That's not stealing. That's confiscating property used or gained in
illegal activity.

Some cybersquatting is also illegal, I do believe.

Selling ipads is not illegal activity.

Your host can shut your account, because they get scared. But the
domain, still yours until due legal process.

Many win, many lose.

Like I said, best to stay away from trademarked works in a domain.

Do a search for ipads for sale and you find a bunch of domains with ipad
in them. Does that mean anything? Does that mean you can do the same?

Paul

[MikeFriedman]

Originally Posted by Bulldozer

And an exact match domain name is very important for SEO.

That is where you might be wrong.

There are tons and tons of competitive SERPs you can look at where domains are ranking without an EMD.

In what I would call real world SEO (meaning outside of the IM community), companies do not want an EMD. They want their brand name out there. I have very few clients with an EMD, and they are ranking just fine. Granted, I don't think any of them are shooting for keywords as tough as iPad, but you get the point.

I believe search engines have been diminishing the benefit of EMD's for some time now and continue to do so. You can find fewer and fewer of them other than in really uncompetitive SERPs, which is where IM'ers play.

[Kay King]

But the website is now gone, and all that work for nothing!

To me, that's the big downside. If you are willing to take the chance and have short term sites you build up and have to shut down frequently, do what you want.

If I'm going to put work into a site I don't want the site at risk. EMD's in my opinion are "IM stuff" and have become a catch phrase for IMers to use. If I use a trademark name it's in a file on a broad-based site on the topic. I can take down a file easily and still have the site active.

kay

[guitarjosh]

I have around 30 trademarked names as part of my domains (out of over 200 of my sites) and only once did the company's legal department send me a "cease and desist". I just removed the content and let it expire. No biggie.

For autoblogging, they're ideal but if you're planning on writing ongoing content, backlinking and all that crap other people do to make money that I've never touched, I'd probably just not do it. I've been pretty shocked at how well some of my sites perform with the incredibly far out domain names that have nothing at all to do with the products my sites deal in.

I do always include the product name in the url though. For my money, that's the most important thing.

[mosthost]

Many companies can and do sue over misuse of their trademarks. If you end up doing a lot of link-building and then get a cease and desist letter, you wasted a lot of time and money. Better off just using a unique brandable domain name.

[Bulldozer]

Originally Posted by mosthost

Many companies can and do sue over misuse of their trademarks. If you end up doing a lot of link-building and then get a cease and desist letter, you wasted a lot of time and money. Better off just using a unique brandable domain name.

How can you come up with a brandable domain name for a site that is going to sell goods that are already part of a brand?
If you are going to sell Ford cars only, don't you think it's best to use "BestFordsAround.com" or "BriansUsedFordsGarage.com" as your domain?
I think names like that are not only good for SEO but also have a good informative value and can be easily advertised via word of mouth and/or radio shows, etc.
However, they are against the rules, I guess?