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Trademark or No Trademark?

by alexts
3 replies
I have registered expired domain via godaddy auction.

I was contacted by previous owner of the domain that claims that he owns established business under this domain name and he wants to take domain back. It looks like previous owner forgot to pay for renewal.

I have checked US Trademark Trademarks Home and it looks like there is no trademark for this keyword.However, previous owner has an established business under this keyword.

I have offered to sell back for very reasonable price ($xx) but previous owner refuses to pay and threatens to sue. Since there is no trademark, can I get into legal trouble?
#trademark
  • Profile picture of the author deohaivan
    what a jerk
    as long as you don't have any of his logos or anything related to his business then you are ok
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    • Profile picture of the author alexts
      Originally Posted by deohaivan View Post

      what a jerk
      as long as you don't have any of his logos or anything related to his business then you are ok
      Domain is not even parked. It just points to the blank page for now.
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      DomainRail is WordPress Plugin for displaying millions of expired domains on your site and earning revenue from affiliate registrations.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jim Hughes
    There is not enough information to answer this question. It really depends on the specific situation.

    Trademarks arise from usage and don't have to be registered. However, in most cases (except huge brand names like Toys R Us) trademarks are limited by type of product/service as well as geography.

    There may be 150 different Joe's Plumbing businesses throughout the country, each operating in a circumscribed metropolitan area, each of which has a trademark in that name (and none of which is infringing the use by the companies in different metro areas).

    Similarly, two companies may use the same trademark, one for selling oranges and one for providing accounting services.

    One more thing. Use of a name as a business/company name is not a trademark. A trademark is when a word, phrase, logo, etc. is used to market goods or services (which may or may not be the same as the company name).

    If the owner does have a trademark in the name, offering to sell it to him could cause problems if it's concluded that you bought the name with the intent to sell it to them.

    ICANN has a process for resolving trademark disputes for domain names that is outside of the regular legal process.

    Bottom line: consult with an experienced trademark attorney. If you want a referral, send me a pm.
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