Legal question: Is it ok to purchase a domain with eBay in the name?

[Affiliate.Solutions]

I am looking to purchase a couple of domains for a product. The only problem is the best names that I can use will include the trademark name ebay.

So my question is:

can I purchase and use a domain like ebaySnipping or eBay-Snipping and can my product have the same name without causing any potential legal issues? ( Especially if I place a disclaimer stating there is no relationship?)

Thoughts?

[Nigel Greaves]

They will send you a cease and desist notice within days usually - I speak from experience!

Ebay protect their trademark very well like most companies these days.

Nigel

[Affiliate.Solutions]

that is what I thought. Any thoughts on what I can do, or how I can substitute the name?

[dsmpublishing]

I totally agree other companies arent as strict but eBay are straight onto it. I did used to have an ebay domain but sold it many years ago when they werent as obsessed by it.

sam
X

[Nigel Greaves]

You could maybe try using the word auction in place of Ebay.

Be careful what you try to use because if I remember correctly they won't allow even close mis-spellings eg. Eby or Ebby. You'll need to check that though as it was about 8 years ago now.

Nigel

[Affiliate.Solutions]

Thanks everyone. Everyone confirmed my suspicions but I wanted to verify them anyways

[bgmacaw]

They pretty much send out C&D letters to any new domain that has 'bay' in it.

[Gene Pimentel]

As others have said, Ebay is very aggressive in protecting their Trademark. There's really no substitute for the name, other than using geneic terms like 'auction' or 'bid' etc.

[vidwealth]

Been there and done that. Don't do it. They canceled my affiliate account with them because I had a blog with "ebay" in the title.

[Jason James]

Originally Posted by Nigel Greaves

They will send you a cease and desist notice within days usually - I speak from experience!

Ebay protect their trademark very well like most companies these days.

Nigel

me too.... several years ago I purchased a domain with ebay in it and like clockwork they send me a fancy letter saying im a bad boy and I need to be punished! lol

Serious.. dont bother, not worth it. If it works what what you are trying to do use the word "auction" instead

[TheRealDomainer]

This is called cybersquatting. You will be sued for it.

[Tyrus Antas]

It depends on what you're doing with the domain: if you intend to make money from it you should ask ebay for permission to use it. If you don't want to make money you can simply add a disclaimer warning readers your website is not in any way affiliated with ebay.

Tyrus

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by TheRealDomainer

This is called cybersquatting. You will be sued for it.

It won't be cybersquatting if your real name is something like Dave Baylor or Josie Bayer but eBay will still send you a C&D and maybe take other steps. Dave or Josie might win eventually but is it worth the headache?

[Gene Pimentel]

Originally Posted by PerryMyk

The term is correct but first come first served is how domain names work; at least they used to.

If a company, like eBay, forgets to reserve ebay.info then you have every right to reserve it.

Perry, this is absolutely not true. Ebay is a registered trademark. They are not required to register every domain name possible (and millions of variations) in order to protect their trademark.

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by PerryMyk

If a company, like eBay, forgets to reserve ebay.info then you have every right to reserve it.

Bad advice really. You do not have the right to register trademarked names and the trademark holder will usually prevail. I've seen "Deep Throat" lose their fight for "deepthroat.com" and maybe a few others for various reasons, but trust me ... Ebay would prevail whether they neglected to register ebay.info or not. Point is ... you can bet they own ebay.info. This is a case of someone trying to capitalize off of their trademark and it isn't allowed.

[sbucciarel]

I'll rely on these answers for registering domains
FAQ about Domain Names and Trademarks -- Chilling Effects Clearinghouse

[MichaelHiles]

I registered LinkedInsights.com

I know it's walking the line closely, and I haven't had the balls to do anything with it yet.

[Gene Pimentel]

Originally Posted by PerryMyk

Just checked my 1and1 and I have 54 website names that contain company names that all of you would instantly recognize - all are 6 months to 2+ years old. No nasty letters in the mail yet....

I'm new here but just assumed many here did the same exact thing - no? None of the production sites has AdSense.

Perry, I admire your enthusiasm, but you're completely missing the point. Profiting from a Trademark somebody else owns is very risky financially at best. Yes, you are 'able' to register Trademarked domain names, but to what end?

Registering a domain name containing a Trademark, and Profiting from a domain containing a Trademark are two completely different things. In the first case, companies who care will send you a C&D. In the second case, if there is any indication that you are attempting to profit with the domain, (even by selling the domain itself), you are inviting a serious lawsuit.

Some companies won't care, at least until they see you turning a noticable profit. Hence the many Trademarked domains you and others have registered that go unchallenged.

What sense does it make to have an inventory of registered Trademarked domain names, when you can't do a thing with them without inviting a lawsuit? You can't sell them, you can't add revenue streams to them, you can't profit from them.

[bgmacaw]

It's true that some companies don't care and some do.

Some even encourage fan usage as long as you aren't trying to act like it's an official company site. They just see it as viral marketing.

Others will go after you for merely mentioning their trademark name in a review or product comparison post on a site. They seem to think that they can remove their trademark from common usage in language and see this activity as protecting their brand image.

You have to know who you're dealing with but there's always a risk involved in using a domain that contains a trademark.

[George Wright]

A big street in Florida is E Bay Blvd. (East Bay Blvd.) I registered it and never got a letter from ebay. However I really couldn't find a use for it. www. eBayBlvd.com (I was going to make a directory for businesses on eBayBlvd but never followed through.) I just let it go and no one has it yet. It's got eBay in it and is a real blvd. LOL

George Wright