Accidental foreign trademark name

[highondomaine]

is it possible to be sued by a foreign (outside US) company for infringing on trademarked name? or is US trademark law only applicable to US companies? Say you have a domain and it turns out some company in south africa is named just that. Can they sue?

 

[gilescoley]

Welcome to NP

Yes they can, just stay away from TM names, its a lot safer

 

[highondomaine]

Welcome to NP

Yes they can, just stay away from TM names, its a lot safer

what about the guy who sold korsvodka.com to korsvodka for 350k?

 

[Domainace]

It looks like he sold that name to himself for some free PR.

 

[gilescoley]

what about the guy who sold korsvodka.com to korsvodka for 350k?

Yeah I think so too

Just because other people sell trademark names doesnt mean its ok, if you saw someone shoplifting and getting away with it, does that mean you would do it

 

[highondomaine]

ok ill be upfront... theres a diamond seller and vineyard in a certain foreign country called XXXXXXXXXXX... they have a .cctld name but I went ahead and registered their exact name XXXXXXXXX.com

would I be able to keep it as a fan site?

 

[gilescoley]

It depends what you want to use it for and whether there is a trademark in place

So if you start a window cleaning business using it, you should be fine, but don't start selling diamonds and wine

 

[highondomaine]

I'm just trying to resell it. think there will be a problem if I try and resell it to them?

 

[gilescoley]

I'm just trying to resell it. think there will be a problem if I try and resell it to them?

Yes, you can have lawsuit issues if you try and sell it to them and they have it trademarked

That is blatantly infringing by trying to benefit financially from someones trademark

 

[highondomaine]

Yes, you can have lawsuit issues if you try and sell it to them and they have it trademarked

That is blatantly infringing by trying to benefit financially from someones trademark

well its already past its grace delete period... what if I asked someone to casually refer the company owner to my website and hope he buys it?

 

[JB Lions]

well its already past its grace delete period... what if I asked someone to casually refer the company owner to my website and hope he buys it?

It's past grace but you can still just delete it anyway. You've already been given answers. Doesn't matter what route you take, what other what if scenarios you post, it's a TM issue. If you want to run the risk, that's your choice to make.

 

[highondomaine]

It's past grace but you can still just delete it anyway. You've already been given answers. Doesn't matter what route you take, what other what if you post, it's a TM issue. If you want to run the risk, that's your choice.

just curious how much does it usually cost a company to file a tm lawsuit and go to court and all that jazz?