Trademarked Names in Sub-Domains (Not Domains) - Would there be a C&D problem?

[Margaret Arumugam]

(Apologies if this is a noob question, but I'm curious to know your thoughts on this)

I'm aware of the problems associated with using trademarked names in top-level domains. But what about subdomains?

Can I have a generic (non-trademarked) domain name with a subdomain that contains a trademark name?

I plan to use subdomains in my promotions but would appreciate prior confirmation if a trademark in a subdomain is treated with the same distaste as that in a TLD?

[davezan]

Posted about this before, but the closest dispute about this is the Jews for
Jesus vs. Google case. They settled before the judge made a decision.

It pretty much depends on who you're potentially dealing with, and if they're
determined to make it an issue. For now, there's little to no interest in it.

Wish it can be answered yes or no. But sometimes things aren't seemingly as
simple as some people think they are.

[bgmacaw]

There are 2 primary downsides to doing this

First, eBay and some other affiliate programs specifically disallow you from doing this in conjunction with their programs.

Second, some trademark holders and their sleazy lawyers will still go after you. There have been some cases recently concerning a popular energy drink sending C&D and host DMCA takedown notices to people who had a picture named something like brandnameenergydrink.jpg on their site, much less the actual name of the product in the URL or a subdomain.