And this is why you NEVER register a domain with the word PayPal (or any other trademark) in it...

by Thomas Michal

Posted: 12 years ago 45 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

So I was curious what would happen if I bought a domain name with the words PayPal in it because well I had an idea...*Anywho, I came across a $0.99 godaddy coupon and was like what the heck, so I bought one. Now seriously within less than 12 hours I received this email:

It has recently come to our attention that you have registered the domain name ****paypal.com , which contains the famous PayPal name and trademark, but are not currently operating a web site under that *domain name. We are concerned that you may intend to use this domain name to violate PayPal's trademark rights, and warn you not to do so. **

As you must know, PayPal, an eBay company, *is the world's leading provider of online payment services. PayPal *has used the name and trademark "PayPal" since *1999 and it is now one of the most famous brands in the world. *PayPal enjoys broad trademark rights, which are protected in many countries around the world. *

Use of your domain name may infringe and/or dilute the famous PayPal trademark. *Infringement occurs when a third party's use of a company's trademark (or a similar variation) is likely to confuse consumers as to the affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement of the third party's services. *Trademark dilution occurs when a third party's use of a variation of a company's trademark is likely to lessen the distinctiveness of the company's famous trademark. *

U.S. federal and state laws, including the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act provides for serious penalties (up to $100,000) against persons who, without authorization, use, sell, or offer for sale a domain name that infringes or dilutes another's trademark. *Infringers who have been notified that their use is infringing, but do not cease, may also be considered "willful" and could be subject to additional money damages and liability for attorney's fees. Having received this email, you are on such notice.

While PayPal *respects your right of expression and your desire to conduct business on the World Wide Web, PayPal must enforce its own rights in order to protect its valuable and famous name. We appreciate that you may have registered ****paypal.com without full knowledge of the law in this area. *However, any use of the domain name (or attempt to transfer the domain name to a third party) in the online commerce field would likely infringe the PAYPAL trademark and would cause PayPal to pursue all available remedies against you. *Under the circumstances, we must insist that you immediately stop using the domain name, not sell, transfer, or offer to sell the domain name to any other person, and simply let the domain name registration expire. In the meantime, the domain name should remain inactive and should not point to any content. * *

Just to be clear, PayPal does not desire to interfere with any legitimate business you may be conducting. We are simply asking that you offer those legitimate services under a name, mark and domain name that is not likely to confuse consumers to believe that your company on one hand and PayPal on the other hand are related and/or affiliated.

Please reply to this email and confirm that you will comply as requested. *If we do not hear from you, we will have to take whatever action necessary to protect PayPal's rights. *

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

Sincerely,

Edith
eBay Legal Department

Now I spoke with an attorney and all that jazz, but I'm not going to get in to why I could own and use it and why I couldn't... But I will tell you this, it's not worth the risk and or headache. Their pockets are deeper than mine and one tiny wrong step could turn into a BIG disaster.

I just wanted to share with you what could happen if you choose to buy a domain with a registered trademark in it any why it's probably a terrible idea.

All in all though I think it was $0.99 well spent.

To success!

#domain #paypal #register #trademark #word

lovboa Banned 12 years ago

I had the same problem with Facebook. Won't be making that mistake again, hehe.
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Ron Douglas

12 years ago

The other thing to note is that they have to defend their trademark. If you don't defend your trademarks, the argument can be made that you have abandoned the mark and you allow EVERYONE to use it.

They've invested a lot in advertising and branding and can't afford to let others benefit from their brand name. It's not taken lightly for sure.

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misc92

12 years ago

What if u move the registry of the domain to a micro-country or iran and purchase hosting in Iran.

Or better yet, register paypal trademark in a country they have not registered it in and move ur registry and hosting to that country.

They couldnt do anything then.

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davezan

12 years ago

Originally Posted by misc92

Every .com registrar follows an administrative process addressing this, so it does
not matter where the domain name is registered. If the registrar doesn't comply,
they risk losing their ability to manage the domain names of their customers.

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David

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cjreynolds

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Thomas Michal

I just wanted to share with you what could happen if you choose to buy a domain with a registered trademark in it any why it's probably a terrible idea.

All in all though I think it was $0.99 well spent.

To success!

Hi, Tom! Thanks for takin one for the team

I've always been leery about using company names or even product names in domains, etc. Nowadays companies tend to go into these things lawyer-first... Makes a bigger impression, and most folks get intimidated and comply quickly :rolleyes:

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davezan

12 years ago

And to be fair, that letter is tame compared to their original ones and those from others. A
tad long, but tame.

If you register domain names bearing unique and/or famous trademarks, more so if wanting
to make money off of them in some way without their permission, do expect trouble.

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Thomas Michal

12 years ago

Originally Posted by davezan

Yeah I totally agree, it was almost friendly... Ha.

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davezan

12 years ago

Originally Posted by affordableweb

scare tactics and BS. you can buy and own any domain you want. How you use it is what matters. satire, commentary and even disputes or complaints are all legit website uses that can include trademarks. PayPal Complaints, PayPal Customer Service & eBay Suspension Complaints

Originally Posted by Rus Sells

Lets not forget: http://allstateinsurancesucks.com/ and trust me Allstate has way much more money than egay! If Allstate can't get that site taken down what can Paypal do? Nothing really.

So yeah it does depend on how you intend to use the domain.

And that is why I specifically said this:

Originally Posted by davezan

If you register domain names bearing unique and/or famous trademarks, more so if wanting
to make money off of them in some way without their permission, do expect trouble.

I guess I should also add if you can afford to. It's just that some folks ask if it's
okay to register a domain name bearing a trademark in a money-making forum.

Why else ask that kind of question here if they're not intending to make money
off of it? *shrug*

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Randall Magwood

12 years ago

That's wild. I can't believe they detected that within 12 hours.

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Vlad Romanov

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Randall Magwood

That's wild. I can't believe they detected that within 12 hours.

i think they detect it as soon as it was registered, which is very easy to do with software... and they just sent a letter when the person came into their shift...

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WillR

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Rus Sells

Originally Posted by Des Lau

i wonder how this site gets away with it:

paypalsucks.com

!

The reason these sites can continue to run is because:

a) They are not monetizing the site. If they were, the sites would be taken down...

b) No one is going to confuse Paypalsucks.com with the actual Paypal service. The whole issue with trademark law is when two marks are close enough that customers are going to be confused as to which one is which and whether or not the owners of the trademark run that site.

If you have a website however such as Paypalcoupons.com, there is no way for the typical person to know whether or not that site is being run by Paypal or someone completely different. For that reason Paypal would have the site taken down to avoid any confusion and protect their trademark and reputation.

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affordableweb

12 years ago

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Thomas Michal

12 years ago

Originally Posted by affordableweb

Like I mentioned in the post

" but I'm not going to get in to why I could own and use it and why I couldn't... But I will tell you this, it's not worth the risk and or headache."

I know how I could have used it but it just isn't worth it, that site you referenced has had to deal with paypals legal team before... I'm just not willing to do that.

I'll just buy a different domain and make the same site.

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Rus Sells

12 years ago

Originally Posted by affordableweb

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Richard Van

12 years ago

Originally Posted by affordableweb

The problem with this advice is a lot of people reading it will take it to mean what they want to hear and that is...I can buy a trademarked domain and use it to make money off the back of the trademark owner.

Sorry but when you bandy advice like this around, consider a lot of the forum don't know any better and will pick out the comments that fit in with what they want to hear.

I'm not saying you're wrong at all, I'm just saying most people who read your post, only read the bit below....

scare tactics and BS. you can buy and own any domain you want.

...because, funnily enough, on this internet marketing forum, most people are not looking to make a satirical, commentary or complaint site, they're looking to make money, which is why this part of the forum is where we "talk about making money".

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Charanjit 12 years ago

but you got to give them credit within 12 hours they issued the warning, which is much faster than most company's
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chihuahua 12 years ago

I won't dare to do such registrations, the letters back and fro from lawyers will burn my wallet and to these companies, it cost nothing as they normally have inhouse legal counsel.
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IMAdam 12 years ago

Been there done that and have the emails to prove it. It's just not worth it. They have more resources on their side than many of us on here, so it's just a losing battle from the the moment one registers any trademarked domain.

I've had to hand over well ranked sites to the trademark holders after spending much time and effort getting them earning, it sure sucks having to shut them down and handing over domains to someone else.

Just don't!
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Des Lau

12 years ago

i wonder how this site gets away with it:

paypalsucks.com

!

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cjreynolds

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Des Lau

i wonder how this site gets away with it:

paypalsucks.com

!

They're not monetizing. Lots of banners, reviews, etc. but no affiliate links or products for sale that I could find.

As long as it's not making money or posing as an official Paypal-owned website...

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fin

12 years ago

Someone see what happens when you buy:

paypalmicrosoftgooglefacebooktwitteryoutube.com

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Ron Douglas

12 years ago

Originally Posted by fin

Someone see what happens when you buy:

paypalmicrosoftgooglefacebooktwitteryoutube.com

Within 10 minutes they'd knock on your door and bitch slap you in the throat. Then they'd YouTube you gasping for air, rank it as a hot trend on google & bing, make it go viral on fb & twitter, and sell the t-shirt through paypal.

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cashp0wer 12 years ago

Yes, I stay away from any domain names like this. I figured something like this would happen to me the second I registered it and now you have proven that point.
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- Steven Wagenheim 12 years ago
  
  I cannot believe that anybody would minimize or trivialize the risk of doing such
  a thing. Yes, PayPalSucks.com is not the same thing as getting a domain where
  people can't tell if you're the real site or not.
  
  When in doubt, simply don't do it. As the OP said, it's just not worth the risk and
  these companies have way deeper pockets than you or I have.
  
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Daddy2

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Ron Douglas

Hahaha that's funny stuff right there!!

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Thomas Michal

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Ron Douglas

Then limit the account.

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sarkar1990 12 years ago

Originally Posted by fin

Someone see what happens when you buy:

paypalmicrosoftgooglefacebooktwitteryoutube.com

This won't be fun for the guy who buys the domain. :p
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TheProgrammer 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Des Lau

i wonder how this site gets away with it:

paypalsucks.com

!

Also the most wondering thing is this site has PR5 and Creation Date: 2000-11-14.
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Thomas Michal 12 years ago

They are considered gripe sites and are usually protected by the first amendment.
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BackLinkiT 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Thomas Michal

All in all though I think it was $0.99 well spent.

Not sure why you would think that. Seems like $0.99 wasted and a lot of hassle too.

Great post though...you can never warn people enough about this sort of thing in my experience.
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Joe Motion 12 years ago

You simply can't register a domain name that has the name
of a website that processes financial payments. It's like using
a domain name with a US or UK bank name in.

Stay away.
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dmister 12 years ago

Thanks for doing that as I always wondered what would happen and how quick the response would be!

It shows it is not worth the hassle registering such a domain with a trademark.
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Daddy2 12 years ago

Just get a new URL and name it palpay.com or palpayer.com....haha show them!
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Muhsin Aziz 12 years ago

I learned this lesson a few years back when i was starting with
affiliate marketing.
What amuses me is that they are able to detect it within 12 hours!
that's scary..
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JackieGold

12 years ago

What about something like iPhoneReviews.com? Or AndroidReviews.com?

I am offering them as hypothetical examples. The sites do actually exist as parked sites.

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davezan

12 years ago

Originally Posted by JackieGold

What about something like iPhoneReviews.com? Or AndroidReviews.com?

I am offering them as hypothetical examples. The sites do actually exist as parked sites.

Unless their respective owners turn them into actual review sites, and preferably
non-commercial ones at that, it is probably just a matter of time before someone
lays the smack down. Other people's behavior doesn't always tell you if something
is necessarily allowed.

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kindsvater 12 years ago

In my view legit review domain names and sites are OK, even if commercial. The word "review" signifies that the domain is not owned by the trademark holder, but by a third party providing reviews. That 'signal' avoids any consumer confusion about who owns the site before they even visit it.

But that's just my view. Domain dispute arbitration decisions are all over the map. Some judges agree with my analysis. Others look at whether the trademark is in the domain name and that is pretty much the end of the issue.

.
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UberNoob 12 years ago

Obviously that is going to happen if you try and take on the big boys lol - just stay away?
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0oo0 12 years ago

What was the domain name?
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AppsFromHome 12 years ago

I did the same thing with the almighty GOOGLE!

That was a mistake. I realized before sending massive amounts of traffic to the site that it was in my best interest to not use their name in my domain...I still own it, but it just sits there collecting dust.

Better than a 100k fine I suppose...
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wizzard74 12 years ago

Ask paypal how much they're willing to pay you to take the domain off your hands
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- iAmNameLess 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by cjreynolds
  
  They're not monetizing. Lots of banners, reviews, etc. but no affiliate links or products for sale that I could find.
  
  They somewhat are monetizing you just have to dig a little deeper.
  
  Originally Posted by TheProgrammer
  
  Also the most wondering thing is this site has PR5 and Creation Date: 2000-11-14.
  
  Yeah.. I believe it had a higher PR at one time as well. I know the owner of it, he's a cool guy.
  
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Michael Ten

12 years ago

Yeah. Obey laws or work to change laws....

Don't break them.

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Rbtmarshall

12 years ago

I'm not knowledgeable with trademark law. Nor am I offering any type of legal advice.

But I also have a domain name with a very popular trademark in it. I've been afraid to use because of jumping the gun and buying it up before considering the law on trademarks.

It appears that the reason some of these sites may get away with using trademark names such as paypalsucks, etc.. might be explained in this section of the law regarding trademarks.

What I wonder about is the people using product names in their domain name to promote affiliate sales (ex:amazon) Some tutorials I have watched explain going after product niches, then looking for an exact match domain. I think that would definitely be in violation of trademark law.

15 USC § 1125 - FALSE DESIGNATIONS OF ORIGIN, FALSE DESCRIPTIONS, AND DILUTION FORBIDDEN

...
(3) Exclusions
The following shall not be actionable as dilution by blurring or dilution by tarnishment under this subsection:
(A) Any fair use, including a nominative or descriptive fair use, or facilitation of such fair use, of a famous mark by another person other than as a designation of source for the person’s own goods or services, including use in connection with—
(i) advertising or promotion that permits consumers to compare goods or services; or
(ii) identifying and parodying, criticizing, or commenting upon the famous mark owner or the goods or services of the famous mark owner.
(B) All forms of news reporting and news commentary.
(C) Any noncommercial use of a mark.

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BHeard 12 years ago

Thats why folks pay many hundreds / thousands of dollars to trademark - you will not win,, be more creative another way that pays off better..
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And this is why you NEVER register a domain with the word PayPal (or any other trademark) in it...

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