Should I register a trademark for my domain?

AchillesX said:

I have a domain I plan on keeping for a long time. I don't actually plan on selling this domain. I was wondering, should I register a trademark for this domain?

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That would protect your domain but severely hinder your ability to sell it. If someone cannot use the name why would they want the domain?

A direct company hit is a domainers dream. If a company cannot use the name you're wasting your time.

If you're running a business or website on the domain then go for it. As a domain for sale my advice would be not to register a trademark.

MapleDots said:

That would protect your domain but severely hinder your ability to sell it. If someone cannot use the name why would they want the domain?

A direct company hit is a domainers dream. If a company cannot use the name you're wasting your time.

If you're running a business or website on the domain then go for it. As a domain for sale my advice would be not to register a trademark.

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Whoops I wasn't clear on what I was trying to say. I do plan on running a website on this domain. Do you now recommend me to register the trademark? The domain is nice enough to where I think It would be good to have this sort of protection.

AchillesX said:

Whoops I wasn't clear on what I was trying to say. I do plan on running a website on this domain. Do you now recommend me to register the trademark? The domain is nice enough to where I think It would be good to have this sort of protection.

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Thank you for updating your original post.

Registering a trademark on a domain/website is a prudent move if you think it will have any measure of success. Look at namepros as your example, they have to protect their mark from copycats.

The question is always how far do you go and how much money do you want to spend. Trademark in your country, your continent, the world?

The answer depends on how profitable your site is expected to be and your desire to protect your business motto so other wont copy.

No right or wrong, you have to go with your gut feeling and the thought that you have something someone else may want to copy or imitate.

A final thought..... copyright is sometimes good enough without having to actually register a trademark. You can use your domain for commerce and post copyright and definitely use that in court should you ever need to. It does give you a small measure of protection.

MapleDots said:

That would protect your domain but severely hinder your ability to sell it. If someone cannot use the name why would they want the domain?

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Actually not. In fact, the TM can make the sale more valuable as they can transfer the trademark along with the domain as a packaged sale!

^ That makes the deal significantly more complex though. Transferring a TM probably means buying the company that holds the TM, most of the time. You don't hand a TM over like you would a domain name.

anantj said:

Actually not. In fact, the TM can make the sale more valuable as they can transfer the trademark along with the domain as a packaged sale!

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In a perfect world yes but much more rare for a company to purchase a trademark rather than to make their own. I think it complicates the possibility of selling a domain.

AchillesX said:

Whoops I wasn't clear on what I was trying to say. I do plan on running a website on this domain. Do you now recommend me to register the trademark? The domain is nice enough to where I think It would be good to have this sort of protection.

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In the U.S., it's all about "first use" rights, of the mark and evidence, to prove first use...Not necessarily, "first registration" of Trademark.

As for a level of protection, without registration, the TM & SM symbols are used with unregistered marks, to give notice to the world of the rights, to which you are claiming: TM for trademarks, or marks that represent goods, and SM for service marks, or marks that represent services.

The federal registration symbol, or ®, is reserved for marks registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (https://www.uspto.gov/), which is total protection.

*I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, but based on my personal and professional experience.

No as if you tradmark the name you need a full business model. If you trademark it it will be locked into the industry you trademark it to. You also now need to chase up the cost of the domain plus the trademark which unless awesome will take you off the market. The country you trademark it to will be only country that will comply.

United States Patent and Trademark Office - An Agency of the Department of Commerce @ https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/trademark-basics

Cheers
Corey

I did trademark a domain name key word. I have operated a website on it for years, plus it is my main email identity on the web. Sure enough many sites popped up on the web with word variations very similar to my domain name. Was contacted by a buyer from France wanting to know if it was for sale, and I said it was not. I believe that if I did not have a trademark the French company would have UDRP'd me.