Domain Name Grey Area? - brand names in certain contexts....

8 replies
Hi all,

I was looking for a domain I needed and came across some (unrelated) ones I liked, all having to do with major brands, on the lines of Playstation, iPhone etc

I know that the names are copyrighted and so generally off limits for anything reasonable. But...

...are uses with a second principal word in the domain name, concepts like "club", "bay", "fans", "reviews" etc. ??

I'd love to hear how you've been able to develop these.

Thanks in advance,
Leo
#area #brand #contexts #domain #grey #names
  • Profile picture of the author Richard Tunnah
    They are not copyrighted but trademarked. The trademark holder is the only person/company that can use or assign use of any said trademark. As to legalities you need to speak to a trademark lawyer but if your intention is to use said domain name to sell that branded goods then I'd not touch it.
    Not only could you lose the domain but if you are using it to sell the brand then that brand could sue you for cybersquatting (there have been six figure law suits!)
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    • Profile picture of the author Scot McFiggen
      Even if the site were a collection of written and video reviews of their product? in other words- if it worked mainly to gather information and testimonials, and only led to an Amazon sale, if any?

      wouldn't it take a very strict interpretation to deem something like www.vespareviews.com ^cybersquatting^?

      I'm not interested enough to throw money at it right now for a proper legal opinion, but the fact that so many sites seem to make it work really brings out the libertarian in me (try taking any brand name and searching on inurl if you.re not convinced..,

      thank you for your input, any other takers?
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      • Profile picture of the author davezan
        Originally Posted by leo mcguiness View Post

        Even if the site were a collection of written and video reviews of their product? in other words- if it worked mainly to gather information and testimonials, and only led to an Amazon sale, if any?
        If that's a sale of a competing product, it might be treated essentially as "riding"
        on someone's trademark or fame to make money off of it. Though the TM holder
        has to prove that, some (especially if you're using a unique and/or famous one)
        might be inclined to take that as a challenge.

        It ultimately depends on who you're dealing with.
        Signature

        David

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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          A trademark can even be deemed by a court to exist constructively, without having been registered, especially if it's a brand name, I think. At least in some countries.

          There are some gray areas, though. There are circumstances under which courts permit the use of other people's trademarks in domain-names. I think they exclude anything with commercial/financial intent, though.

          But for the most part, these are for people with very strong stomachs and deep pockets.

          Among the things that can and regularly do happen, when the trademark owner discovers such breaches of trademark in a domain-name, are:-
          • They can tell you take it down
          • They can take the domain from you
          • They can take from you any money you've ever made through the site
          • They can sue you for additional damages for flagrantly breaching their legal rights
          Don't imagine that because "you're helping them to make sales" (as is so often the case, in these circumstances) they'll decide to be lenient. That isn't how it works. The point here is that owning a trademark effectively confers obligations as well as rights on the holder: when it comes to trademark renewal time, if it can be shown that they've knowingly failed to protect their rights with regard to the trademark, that can be held against them. Some companies, for this reason, have the policy of pursuing all breaches of the trademark routinely and without reference to the motives/purposes/circumstances/location of the defendant.

          I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not even really all that interested in playing one on TV, either.
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          • Profile picture of the author Scot McFiggen
            Alexa,

            Full, concise reply...thank you. I have neither deep pockets nor the stomach, I'll leave it to someone who does to redefine the grey area....

            Regards,
            Leo
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  • Profile picture of the author techbul
    It really depends, but you could contact the company really and ask for their permission. If they say yes, then why not?
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  • Profile picture of the author Do
    I have been in domain market for years. This industry is lucrative.
    If you are using it for seo, no need premium domains at all, make sure domain contains keywords, .com/org/net are good to go. If you are using for brand, i'd suggest you to invest some money to buy a nice domain. Like produtreviews.com
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Tunnah
      Originally Posted by Do View Post

      I have been in domain market for years. This industry is lucrative.
      If you are using it for seo, no need premium domains at all, make sure domain contains keywords, .com/org/net are good to go. If you are using for brand, i'd suggest you to invest some money to buy a nice domain. Like produtreviews.com
      This is poor advise and a reason to check with your own legal attorney rather than what is posted on this forum.
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