Domain with brand name or is it?

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I own a domain appleiphoneprice.com that I'd like to make a website with but because of the brand name Apple in it, I'm not sure if I should, can I get in trouble with that? I consider this name to be related to the prices only and that it doesn't directly reflect on the phone branding itself. Any advice on this would be appreciated..Thanks.
#brand #domain
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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    Originally Posted by DenRich777 View Post

    I own a domain appleiphoneprice.com that I'd like to make a website with but because of the brand name Apple in it, I'm not sure if I should, can I get in trouble with that?
    Yes, you can.

    Both "apple" and "iphone" are trademarked. And the trademark holder has a reputation for litigation and protecting its rights.

    Among the things that can and regularly do happen, when the trademark owner discovers such breaches of trademark in a domain-name, are:-
    • They can tell you take it down
    • They can take the domain from you
    • They can take from you any money you've ever made through the site
    • They can sue you for additional damages for flagrantly breaching their legal rights
    Don't imagine that because "you're helping them to make sales" (as is so often the case, in these circumstances) they'll decide to be lenient. That isn't how it works. The point here is that owning a trademark effectively confers obligations as well as rights on the holder: when it comes to trademark renewal time, if it can be shown that they've knowingly failed to protect their rights with regard to the trademark, that can be held against them. Some companies, for this reason, have the policy of pursuing all breaches of the trademark routinely and without reference to the motives/purposes/circumstances/location of the defendant.

    I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not even really all that interested in playing one on TV, either.
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