Do people understand the law?

[TheButcher]

I have over 3300 domains, I would never register or buy a trade marked domain. There are laws, cases brought in front of the courts for trade mark violation, infringement, deformation of character, I could go on and on.

You can't register and sleep in peace with a name like microsoft2.com or 2microsoft.com

It's absolutely bull. You're asking for a cease and desist plus damages in a court.

Please think before getting smart.

I get hundreds of emails a day to buy a domain, I laugh at how stupid people are registering famous people's names or company names.

Get real kids.
You have legit domains for sale I'll buy them anyday. Don't do the wrong thing.

Thanks

 

[TheButcher]

Yea, thats why the courts are full of law suits over the video and ICANN is backed up with UDRP cases filed by the Hilton attorney's.

FYI, I registered the name BECAUSE of Paris's exploits. I sold it for the same reason.

You just said something her attorney's ould love to hear in Court, you tried to eploit her name, recognition, stardom, reputation, goodwill for your own monetary gain.

Note to myself: Watch out if anyone named "tres" ever tries to sell me a domain. :D

 

[Qwert]

I see you(Qwert) have now come full circle in this forum! :lol:

Not only are smarter if you have an avatar, but a bunch of domains as well! :kickass:


Wait one minute

I have about 350 domains. Does that mean I'm 10.6% as smart as TheButcher?

I guess I can live with that.

Well if you have 3300 domains or 350 domains or even 100 domains (.infos don't count) you have to know what you're doing. I personally only have 5 though (other then .infos) so you're 70X smarter then I am. How's that?

 

[mr-x]

Just to make sure I put this to rest, I thought I would post a few links that make my point. Owning a domain is not trademark infringment. How you use it may be....

Two winners and a loser. A trademark owner will win if your use would confuse the consumer or dilute the mark.

http://www.udrpinfo.com/eres/decisions/0243.html
http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/html/2000/d2000-1532.html
http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/93564.htm

fixed urls

 

[Dwayne]

should i get rid of "googleworm.info" lol

 

[mr-x]

should i get rid of "googleworm.info" lol

Yes! go register googleworm.com and push them both to me

 

[Jeff]

Not to sound rude but what did you just mean?

I thought I was discussing and answering a question about domain names. What was wrong in my post?

Posting your potential ™ views/commentary in another member's "Marketplace" thread is against the Forum rules, that was my only point (above).
Thread: http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=59973

I see some intelligent people here and a lot of people with no clue what they are talking about. I make deals all day long on my board and I have never seen so many people with no clue about legal issues and domains. I think I'll stop posting here.

Sorry you feel that way ... and hopefully we'll get even more thoughts on the matter from folks here in the (more appropriate) "Legal Issues" Forum!
All the best, and please continue the discussion folks. :talk:
-Jeff

 

[inflames]

i think ppl know the law , they just ignore it because they think they can make a quick dollar .. in some cases they lose lots of dollars

 

[Dwayne]

hmm, i am trying to see if i should get ride of it since it has the word "google"

 

[RJ]

"Do people understand the law?" Many probably do, but the case with some that are new to the domain industry is "no".

It's a bad thing to register famous trademarks with the intent to deceive or confuse visitors, or redirect them to competing services. Even worse is the (laughable) intention to try to sell the domain to the trademark holder. Also I've heard from those unfamiliar with trademarks say "well my domain contains a dash" (or some other small modification). That is just ignorance about trademark law.

How do people learn about trademarks? Last I checked it wasn't taught in high school. I covered it in college, but not everyone takes business law classes. People learn from experience, sometimes the hard way. Hopefully forums like this can get people familiar with these issues too.

Back to the topic, I don't believe all domains that contain a famous trademark are inherently evil. Butcher, would you consider owning a domain like "BuyViagra.com"? I certainly would because I know I could put it to a legitimate use that does not infringe on Pfizer's rights.

 

[primacomputer]

The only one who could truly claim to understand trademark law is a lawyer who has spent the last few years specialising in it. The URDP is not trademark law, so you need another lawyer specialising in that for the last few years to cover your bases.

Anyone else is basing their beliefs on their limited knowledge. Often this knowledge is very limited, even non-existent. So the simple answer is no. People, OP included, do not understand the law.

There are many common misconceptions about domain names, trademarks, and the UDRP. Anyone who takes the time to read a few dozen trademark and UDRP decisions will quickly be enlightened. I encourage anyone who wants a basic grasp of the concepts to do exactly that. This will not give you “understanding”, but rather a “basic grasp”. Still, this is still a big step forward for people who believe that using “hilton” in a domain is a crime.

I generally avoid names containing a trademark, but claiming that you will get sued and loose simple because you register a name such as hitlonsex.com in it is total BS. Hiltonsex.com would be an excellent name to promote an "escort service" in the village of Hitlon, NY. Or perhaps to promote cigarette smoking to under-age children in China, where Hilton is a popular brand of cigarette. Both of these might give you legal troubles, but not one of them would be trademark related.

Again, don't take my word for it. Ask a trademark layer. Failing that there are oodles of trademark and UDRP decisions available for reading via a quick google search. It's also worth a visit to the USPTO site where you can view trademark information on line. See an actual real-live application form. Learn about classes. Understand why pimping in a small town in NY doesn't infringe on an international hotel chain.

 

[equity78]

Pimping Is Illegal

 

[Rowan W]

There was someone on these forums who registered the domain www.webdesign-talk.com, because www.webdesigntalk.com is not trademarked in the UK or something.

Is this ok to do?

 

[webdesign-talk]

Me that is and you cannot advertise the domain here because of that

 

[Badger]

I was actually waiting to see when either JBerryhill or wlspro were going to be mentioned or, for that matter, actually commented in this thread... My guess is that they have probably read it and thought whats the point of indulging in the 'whys and wherefores' of a thread that quickly descended into cheap shots and abuse from the thread starter...... Wha wha whaaaaaaaa....

 

[Dave_Z]

There was someone on these forums who registered the domain www.webdesign-talk.com, because www.webdesigntalk.com is not trademarked in the UK or something.

Is this ok to do?

While I'm not an attorney, I can tell you that it's one thing to infringe on a
trademark, it's another to be proven you don't have a legitimate interest and
you're using it in bad faith.

In either WIPO or NAF especially, you're bound to find cases where domain
name owners infringed on a trademark or so, but proved they have either a
legitimate use or are definitely not using it in bad faith. It's more importantly
a matter of proving your intent for the name.

If it ever reaches UDRP, proving that intent is all the more vital if you want to
convince the panelist/s of your side. And if your intent doesn't fits the rules
or close to it, you can lose.

i think ppl know the law , they just ignore it because they think they can make a quick dollar .. in some cases they lose lots of dollars

If they take time to read the Service Agreement of their chosen registrar or
Terms of Service of their hosting provider, they ought to take time learning
about this topic as well. Easy way or hard way, their choice.

Like the law, ignorance of this excuses no one.

Some do, some don't. Those that don't, register at your own risk.

 

[111media]

Fan Sites, Product Promotion etc

People buy sites with the names of famous people and trademark names all the time for legitimate purposes like fan sites and product promotion. If a site is developed as a place to honor the subject or help sell the product those are legitimate uses and generally the TM is perfectly okay to own in these instances. Saying people are stupid for registering these names is in itself stupid imho. If someone wants to start a Britney Spears fan site at BritneySpearsFans.com or whatever then they have a 'legitimate use' and are generally exempt from any kind of legal action.

 

[dna]

I just did a trademark search on just 2 of my domain names
and found that both were trademarked: fossil and dna
I own www.fossil.us and www.dna.us.

You can trademark anything. You can sue over anything.
Maybe I should put up a website on those names just to be safe.

You can search your names here:

http://www.uspto.gov

 

[eple]

What is Hilton?

Hilton is a norwegian family-/surname, and a norwegian that emmigrated to USA used his surname to name his hotel business. This family name is the same as the name of farm they were living on in Norway. The part of the family that remained in Norway still has the farm up and running, which have been a business since atleast the 1700s.

Does it mean that all other Hiltons permanently lose the right to use their surname online as a domain name, just because some part of the family has trademarked it in USA?

Lets say the people running their farm in rural Norway has a world hit with some of the farms produce, do they not have the right to use: HiltonGourmet/Products/Farm/Foods/Cuisine/Etc.com?

 

[mole]

Everything is trademarked somewhere somehow, including sex.

If you want to register a domain name, be prepared to lose it to reverse cyberjackers. Best thing you can do is to show good faith. Your lawyers will do the rest. And not have porno links in your sig to boost traffic

 

[dgridley]

If people "understood the law", we wouldn't need lawyers...

I regged several potential C&D's when I first started out. It's not always easy to see the line between infringement and a safe reg.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

If people "understood the law", we wouldn't need lawyers...

Nightmares...

-Allan