Trademark vs Domain Name vs Fair Use

by 5 replies
7
Here is an interesting article that I have just read about "Toyota loses domain name trademark appeal"

From the article at Toyota loses domain name trademark appeal | The Car Tech blog - CNET Reviews
it mentions:

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote: "[W]hen they say Lexus, they mean Lexus. We've long held that such use of the trademark is a fair use, namely nominative fair use. And fair use is, by definition, not infringement."




Frankly, I am still damn confuse
#main internet marketing discussion forum #domain #fair #trademark
  • The judges ruled that having that kind of web site, examples given of
    hyphenated sites, would not cause any confusion about if the site
    was the car maker or someone else.

    Also, nominative fair use as it relates to trademark infringement allows
    for trademarks to be used in situations where the name is used to make
    a comparison or description.

    Nominative use - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    So, the website owners were brokering Lexus cars and using the
    trademarked name in a nominative fair use situation. The three judges
    reviewing the appeal stated the original ruling, in federal court I believe,
    was too broad.

    Ken
  • That will certainly change domain buying practices. In fact, that should cause quite a run on some domains. Brokers will hold them until it is completely settled.

    Do you have your 'Ipad' domain already?

    Lol.
    • [1] reply
    • Banned
      Yeah but the only problem is that in order to win it apparently, you'll have to defend it in court if the trademark holder fights it, so that's going to make the cost of using it pretty high with all the lawyer's fees.
      • [1] reply
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