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Hi! How are you doing?
I know the trademark issue has been discussed several times before, but this thread intends to analyze it from a different viewpoint.
The main problem I find with trademarks is in its grey areas.
There's no big deal with trademarked dictionary words, since they existed long before they were trademarked, and it would be easy to assume that nobody really acquired the domain in bad faith. The domain would have been acquired/registered anyway.
But let's imagine the following situation:
A particular domain, which is not a dictionary word but is a common play on it, which has been registered for, say, 20 years. Someone files a trademark on it, let's assume the trademark is 10, 15 years younger than the domain itself.
In Brandable marketplaces I've seen statements like:
- as a seller, please make sure you're not infringing on someone else's intellectual property
- as a buyer, it's your responsability to make sure the domain you're are acquiring does not infringe on someone else's intellectual property. Bare in mind that a trademarked term within a specific industry can still be used in a different niche.
For attractive brandables, it might always be the case that you might be infringing on someone else's property, albeit within one specific industry, or for one country only. Many of the brandables you see in marketplaces have one or several trademarks.
So, in the case of the previous example of a certain term that had been registered long before any trademark has been issued, and assuming this term is a play on a dictionary word (something like Chronox or Silvver, as an example). Suppose someone files a trademark for this term, only for a specific industry. Let's assume it's a trademark for manufacturing process software (International TM).
So, if the domain is offered for sale in one of the brandable marketplaces (or any marketplace), they could be acquired by startups and companies for ANY other niche (fashion, retail, design, consulting, etc.) without infringing on anyone's intellectual property.
However, what if the buyer is a startup within the same industry the trademark has been filed for? What if the buyer is building a manufacturing process management software, he liked the name, and wants to build his brand on it? He would be infringing on someone else's intellectual property...AND...he could even be sued for it....BUT....who's to blame then? Who might face legal consequences ? Brandable marketplaces usually walk away from responsabilities regarding this issue, so who is ultimately responsible for this infringement? The seller, for selling the name, or the buyer, for deciding to use the brand without checking TM issues?
It should be obvious this would be the buyer's responsability. As a seller, one could sell the domain to millions of other industries and there would be no legal breach.
But what seems obvious to me might not be so for the legal industry, or for the domaining industry.
Whose responsability do you think it is in such a case?
I know the trademark issue has been discussed several times before, but this thread intends to analyze it from a different viewpoint.
The main problem I find with trademarks is in its grey areas.
There's no big deal with trademarked dictionary words, since they existed long before they were trademarked, and it would be easy to assume that nobody really acquired the domain in bad faith. The domain would have been acquired/registered anyway.
But let's imagine the following situation:
A particular domain, which is not a dictionary word but is a common play on it, which has been registered for, say, 20 years. Someone files a trademark on it, let's assume the trademark is 10, 15 years younger than the domain itself.
In Brandable marketplaces I've seen statements like:
- as a seller, please make sure you're not infringing on someone else's intellectual property
- as a buyer, it's your responsability to make sure the domain you're are acquiring does not infringe on someone else's intellectual property. Bare in mind that a trademarked term within a specific industry can still be used in a different niche.
For attractive brandables, it might always be the case that you might be infringing on someone else's property, albeit within one specific industry, or for one country only. Many of the brandables you see in marketplaces have one or several trademarks.
So, in the case of the previous example of a certain term that had been registered long before any trademark has been issued, and assuming this term is a play on a dictionary word (something like Chronox or Silvver, as an example). Suppose someone files a trademark for this term, only for a specific industry. Let's assume it's a trademark for manufacturing process software (International TM).
So, if the domain is offered for sale in one of the brandable marketplaces (or any marketplace), they could be acquired by startups and companies for ANY other niche (fashion, retail, design, consulting, etc.) without infringing on anyone's intellectual property.
However, what if the buyer is a startup within the same industry the trademark has been filed for? What if the buyer is building a manufacturing process management software, he liked the name, and wants to build his brand on it? He would be infringing on someone else's intellectual property...AND...he could even be sued for it....BUT....who's to blame then? Who might face legal consequences ? Brandable marketplaces usually walk away from responsabilities regarding this issue, so who is ultimately responsible for this infringement? The seller, for selling the name, or the buyer, for deciding to use the brand without checking TM issues?
It should be obvious this would be the buyer's responsability. As a seller, one could sell the domain to millions of other industries and there would be no legal breach.
But what seems obvious to me might not be so for the legal industry, or for the domaining industry.
Whose responsability do you think it is in such a case?