Chieff
Established Member
- Impact
- 87
Lets say Mr. A have an online store that sells pink shoes and trademarked domain name sells at pinkshoes.com
@jberryhill Thanks for valuable opinion
Consider this scenario A selling headphones at headphones.com (or any ccTLD like headphones.ca)
If B want to sell headphones at headphone.com (using same domain extension as A / headphone.ca)
Does it cause any legal issue against B?
Does registering domain in bad faith or confusing similar name as per UDRP applies here?
Since the domain name is made of commonly used words and generic right?
Thanks
It would really depend on the specific facts, and we would have to know a lot more about the reputation of “headphones.com”. As you may know, Booking.com received recognition in the US as a mark based, in part, on having spent millions on advertising over more than a decade of establishing the reputation of their brand. This was backed up by consumer survey evidence showing that “Booking.com” was perceived as their service in particular, and not just an address for a booking website.
A LOT of evidence is needed to establish a mark like that. The scope of the mark like that is still something of an open question. But the “small differences matter” principle of descriptive marks definitely applies.