I don`t really think that a company would just open a law suit against a forum thread. And if that happens, they`ll just change their swipe. The domains are not to play with. Buying a domain name that has a trademark in it can surely make you end up losing it, along with your entire website. It happened in the past.

Yes, ditto to what other posters have said: Rolodex is a trademark, so anyone using the term is in violation of the mark.

See "Rolodex" is a registered trademark: ROLODEX - Reviews & Brand Information - BEROL CORPORATION Atlanta, GA - Serial Number: 78979531

Interesting: Is*it legal to use the word Rolodex in my company name?

"Unfortunately for you, it appears that "Rolodex" is a registered trademark. If it is, you may *not* use it you own company name or for your product or service."

Also, for writers: Trademark Law for ... Dunderheads | Poynter. --

"For example ... Rolodex. I believe we once said to people, "Don't use 'Rolodex' as a metaphoric term. That is, if a consultant leaves one candidate to go to another, don't write that he's taking his Rolodex with him. You're using a proprietary term in a metaphoric sense."

In practical terms, is it likely that a trademark holder would go after someone running a WSO?

Perhaps it's unlikely. However, it's more than possible. Trademark holders risk losing their mark if they fail to defend it.

People have to make their own decisions about the risks they take... :-)

Cheers

Angela

No, surely not? Trademarks relate to civil law, not to criminal law? I'd think such people would be open to being sued, as is anyone who breaches others' civil law rights - not prosecuted?

Well let's see here... The name McDonalds is trademarked but other businesses use it in their name as long as it isn't competing with the trade mark holder in their business. I see McDonald's Hardware, etc...

So, the term Rolodex, if you are using it to refer to a directory can you be sued?

The definition of Rolodex is: "A Rolodex is a rotating file device used to store business contact information."

So are you saying that if we created a product to help people fix their marketing mistakes,

we then should not call it:

"Internet marketing Boo boo Band-Aids®" ?

And we can't dry their tears with Internet Marketing Kleenex® ?

Trademarks are misunderstood by a lot of people. For you to infringe on a trademark it needs to be proven that customers would be confused between your business and the business that owns the trademark. If people are being led to believe or they would easily assume affiliation between yourself and the main brand/trademark, that is when you have issues.

Example:

Apple has the word Apple trademarked. But this does NOT mean no one else can use the word Apple. I can sell apples (the fruit) on the side of the road and use the word apple all day long. The reason being that people driving past are not going to be confused and misled to believe I am part of the Apple brand. Now if I were instead sitting on the side of the road and selling laptop computers and using the word Apple on my sign, people could very easily assume affiliation between myself and the Apple brand. I would definitely have something to answer for and Apple could and would likely sue me for that.

Let's take another example. Have you heard of the website called Paypalsucks.com? Do you not think Paypal have tried to have that site taken down numerous times? Ofcourse they have. But it still exists to this day and the reason being that although they have used the trademarked word Paypal in their website title, consumers are not going to be misled into thinking it is a website created and run by Paypal. Afterall, it says Paypalsucks so it's pretty clear it has no affiliation with the real brand.

I'm not sure who trademarked the term rolodex or for what industry it was trademarked for. It doesn't mean no one can use the word though. If you are using the word to sell products or services for which the main trademark was never related to then you will have no issues. So long as people would not be confused into thinking you are affiliated with the business or products for which that term was originally trademarked, you should be just fine.

Trademarks are there to protect brands. If you try to profit off of someone else's name and hard work, that is when trademark infringement becomes an issue. But trademarks are NOT designed to stop every other person from ever using that word(s) again.

What trademark category is "rolodex" registered for?

As long as your product, service, niche, etc. aren't in those categories you are 100% fine. I could go start a beverage company called rolodex right now and I wouldn't be infringing on anything.

The last time I checked. Mr.Brown was never taken to court for using the word Google in "Google Sniper"

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