Are Trademarks too risky?

[Roo78]

The title says it all.
Are trademark names too risky to buy, even though they have consist traffic and revenue?

Can you tell if one name is more risky than another and how?

I've recently become more interested in TMs and would love to hear what everyone else thinks about them. Thanks!

 

[diddie]

Don't loose your time and money, usually it finishes bad for domainers

 

[Roo78]

Thanks,
What is the best way to get rid of trademarks before I get any lawsuits?

 

[Alex]

Thanks,
What is the best way to get rid of trademarks before I get any lawsuits?

Delete it.

 

[Roo78]

It's not worth selling them cheap?

 

[hawkeye]

Bad newbie thingy there. Some TM holders are more aggressive than others, and play harder ball (insert $$$ here) too. So, your call on what to reg or not. But the best thing would be 'not park them', and 'let them silently drop' in the dark come renewal time. JMHO.

 

[filter]

Thanks,
What is the best way to get rid of trademarks before I get any lawsuits?

1) point DNS to a blank page

2) DO NOT DELETE THE DOMAIN - sometimes registrars will keep the name for themselves, parked with infringing ads, leaving you with that much more to explain in court.

3) often the first step a company will take to protect their TM with regard to an infringing domain is to request / demand that the domain be transfered to them. Depending on how much "good faith" / "bad faith" can be demonstrated in your registration and use of the domain name, you might consider asking for reasonable compensation (maybe $100, or a bit more, or less, depending on your potential liability / chance of contesting the TM claim) for your time to arrange the transfer - but not to "sell" them the domain (that can be argued to demonstrate "bad faith"). But if you're already seriously in the wrong (ie registered the domain after their TM was first used in business, and have been serving infringing ads etc) then probably best just to cut your exposure and transfer the domain without getting cute about being paid for your "trouble".

4) I am not a lawyer, nor do I have any actual experience dealing with legal issues related to "bad faith" registration of TM-related domains - you would be well advised to consult a qualified attorney if you have any substantial exposure to liability for bad faith infringing acts - or if you are dealing with a grey area where you have reasonable cause to believe that your use of a domain name is in fact not actually infringing on the TM holder's legitimate rights ...

 

[Seabass]

Filter is right, if you delete your domain, then ads may appear on them for the rest of the registration term. Godaddy unethically does this.

No matter what you do you may be screwed b/c if the domain is auctioned and another unscrupulous domainer picks it up and then that domainer gets sued, the lawyers will probably have done some digging and found out that you once owned the domain and then include you in the lawsuit. Why not, it is more money for everyone except you.

The key is: Don't buy trademark domains, and if you have, pray that you don't get sued.

There is big, big money in buying and parking them, but I bet you won't sleep well at night knowing you may have a special little present arriving in the mail.

 

[gazzip]

You may want to read this before you go any further

http://complianceandprivacy.com/News-CADNA-campaign.html


.

 

[htmlindex]

2) DO NOT DELETE THE DOMAIN - sometimes registrars will keep the name for themselves, parked with infringing ads, leaving you with that much more to explain in court.

Would the domain company potentially be liable for also profiting from the trademark?

 

[exponent]

Bad newbie thingy there. Some TM holders are more aggressive than others, and play harder ball (insert $$$ here) too. So, your call on what to reg or not. But the best thing would be 'not park them', and 'let them silently drop' in the dark come renewal time. JMHO.

I defend my marks aggressively to the tune of (my suits):

$100 - I filed and won on principal (the idea was that court costs would teach this idiot a lesson)

$2250 - I filed and settled out of court (abuse & dilution of my trademark)

$8100 - I won (can't disclose anything other than the amount)

I don't recommend offering to sell the mark to a company. This is why I filed suits. Nobody should hold a mark hostage. If you registered something that is trademarked, and you realize it later, its best to seek a marketing agreement or just give the domain to the trademark holder. Otherwise, you could run into someone like me that takes trademarks very seriously.

 

[Name Trader]

If you think of the possibility of losing your home, your car, your wife, is too risky. Then it's too risky.

 

[animeorb]

It depends on the domain, if there is something else you can spell with the domain, you can try it. Such as for Namepros you could do Nam E-Pros (Nam as in Vietnam). Although that one does sound really stupid.

 

[Seabass]

Most trademark infringement cases don't result in high settlement costs, meaning the limit of $100,000 per infringement. Actually, it's usually small (a few thousand) or nothing.

But, either way, big settlement/small settlement/nothing, you will spend your time, money, resources, and possibly your health dealing with the hassle. This will make you miss out on other opportunities if you had just stayed clean.

Just think about the domain owners out there right now that have chosen the route of buying TI domains and having a XMAS ruined by constantly worrying about that lawyer's letter on their desk.

This is why GENERIC DOMAINS RULE !!! I get a lot of zzzzzzzzzzzzzz's at night.

 

[Dave_Z]

Would the domain company potentially be liable for also profiting from the trademark?

Potentially. But if this is your typical domain-name-registered-to-enduser-and-
used-the-registrar-DNS, then highly unlikely since WHOIS shows to whom the
domain name is registered with and your registrar's contract covering this.

Guess who the trademark holder will likely believe "owns" the domain name on
the WHOIS record.

 

[Sam]

Most trademark infringement cases don't result in high settlement costs, meaning the limit of $100,000 per infringement. Actually, it's usually small (a few thousand) or nothing.

But, either way, big settlement/small settlement/nothing, you will spend your time, money, resources, and possibly your health dealing with the hassle. This will make you miss out on other opportunities if you had just stayed clean.

Just think about the domain owners out there right now that have chosen the route of buying TI domains and having a XMAS ruined by constantly worrying about that lawyer's letter on their desk.

This is why GENERIC DOMAINS RULE !!! I get a lot of zzzzzzzzzzzzzz's at night.

I get a ton of Z's every night. Not a single letter after 4 months...change that one letter, whose claim was so ridiculous the registry laughed it off. TM name scaring is so over hyped its ridiculous.

Now finding TM typos making good revenue, THATS hard to find.

I have people offering me 2 years revenue and even up to 4 YEARS revenue on tm typos. Granted they are ccTLDs so your chance of EVER going to court are almost nil.

 

[pergamon]

Potentially. But if this is your typical domain-name-registered-to-enduser-and-
used-the-registrar-DNS, then highly unlikely since WHOIS shows to whom the
domain name is registered with and your registrar's contract covering this.

Guess who the trademark holder will likely believe "owns" the domain name on
the WHOIS record.

When you delete a domain with godaddy the whois is no longer available. Godaddy keeps showing ads on the page.

Their faq reads:
Canceling a domain does not entitle you to a refund of any part of your registration fee. Once you have canceled a domain it is no longer registered to you. It will be listed as available for others to register. This is a permanent action. You may re-register this domain at a later time and for additional registration fees.

 

[Kate]

Personally I think that notwithstanding the risks there are better and more sustainable ways to make money than squat on the hard work of others...

 

[metronome]

haha
if you think the risk is worth your money, why not
everybody has different tolerance to risk.

 

[Dave_Z]

Personally I think that notwithstanding the risks there are better and more sustainable ways to make money than squat on the hard work of others...

And there you go. Opportunities are abound: here, outside, even within.