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is it alright to have a brandname on your domain name

by mrenish
7 replies
I find quite a few domains with famous brands in it isn't against the brands copyright or policy to have so?

For ex:

googlesniper .com
Facebookadpower .com
sellingonebay .com
Twitterdomination .com
#alright #brandname #domain
  • Profile picture of the author Pragun
    Mate, for legal advice, this is not the right place. You might just get the wrong advice, following which will get you sued till your teeth fall out.. :p
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
    It's a trademark issue, not a copyright issue.

    If you are exploiting the use of their name, then it can be an issue. However, there are times when it is acceptable to use a brand name if it is for informational purposes. It can get sticky though and probably many people using brand names in their domain names are just one legal letter away from losing it. More often than not, people are probably using the names in an infringing manner.

    The bottom line is that you should talk to a lawyer to determine whether your intended use will be infringing upon someone's mark.
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    • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
      I once tried to register a domain name with "google" in it--probably through Namecheap, and I got a message saying that the word "google" was not allowed in domains registered there.

      BTW, I think George changed the URL of his Google Sniper page to gsniper.com--don't know--maybe it was always that though.

      Not long ago Google went after sites with the theme "Make Money With Google" with a vengeance. There were a lot of sites promoting products promising yo would get paid from Google from doing certain work. That clearly is playing off the Google name, and is deceptive in that many of the sites made one think they were some kind of "official" Google site.

      On the other hand, there have been many, many products with the word "Google" in their name. BUt like others have said, you could find many companies you would prefer to have stalking you down other than the Big G. Right or wrong they could make your life miserable.

      Choose your battles wisely. I would not choose to battle "G" in any event.
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  • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
    It does not matter what the company's policy is, the question is what the law allows. There is no simple answer. It depends on the domain name; the trademark; what you are doing (or not doing with the domain), etc.

    Beyond that, there is the question of whether you want to determine what the law will or will not allow. That is an entirely different issue and often answers the question for most as to whether or not that domain name is important to them.

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author Crew Chief
    Originally Posted by mrenish View Post

    I find quite a few domains with famous brands in it isn't against the brands copyright or policy to have so?

    For ex:

    googlesniper .com
    Facebookadpower .com
    sellingonebay .com
    Twitterdomination .com

    You are entering a slippery slope that you must be prepared for if you are going you use names that are trademarked. I have a number of sites related to the insurance industry and received this warning from S-T-A-T-E_F*A*R-M

    Re: Use of a State Farm Trademark

    Your use of our trademark in the key words portion of your metatags is an infringement of our trademark. See: Brookfield Communications, Inc. v. West Coast Entertainment Corporation, 174 F3d 1036 (1999) and Flow Control Industries, Inc. v. AMHI, Inc. 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9252 (2003).

    Once again we are asking that you remove our trademark from the metatags of your web site. Please provide us by the close of business on July 6, 2009, your written acknowledgement that you will not use our marks in your metatags or future advertising. If you have any questions, I may be reached at xxx-xxx-xxxx or at the email address below.

    Mind you, I only had their name in the metatags and the site was and is an outstanding and informative site. After about a year and a half of doing the dance with them, I did finally remove the tags because going to court to prove my point wasn't worth that particular battle.

    I also had an individual who had trademarked a catchy phrase that I had been using on one of my sites since 2006. He trademarked it in 2008 and sent me this email 2009.

    We found our trade name xxxxxx xxxxxx on your site at xxxxxxxxxxxx.com

    xxxxxx xxxxxx is a United States Registered Trademark.

    We herby demand that you remove all references to     xxxxxx xxxxxx and our products or face immediate legal action agaibst your company.

    Notify us at once that you will comply by writing xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.com

    If we do not hear from you we will immediately contact your service provider and demand they terminate your service for violation of the U.S. Copyright act.


    The thing you have to ask yourself is, "If they sue you, are you going to be willing to hire trademark infringement attorneys and fight back?"

    In the second case, I could have fought it and had a 75% chance of winning but would the victory be worth it? No! In your case, if you're planning on using trademarked names similar to your examples, you better have some sharp lawyers, PLURAL!
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Many people register trademarked names. Just because they do and haven't gotten a cease and desist does not mean that the light is green to register them. If it's a trademarked name, you run the risk of a lawsuit or at the very least, a cease and desist letter from the trademark holder.
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  • Profile picture of the author randalblanchette
    The clear answer is 'it depends'. Any jailhouse lawyer will tell you to go ahead until you get caught. The thing is let's say it is Kindle...yeah, you can kiss your site bye bye to Amazon lickety split.
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