Is there any TM how to's?

[two4one]

hello,
am new to trademark issues , so like to know about some how to's
1.How to know the domain we selected/avilable/purchased have TM issue?
2.How to apply a TM for our domains?
3.if Mr.A gets trade mark for "carrot.com" does that mean Mr.A has TM right over all other TLDs like carrot.info,carrot.co.uk,carrot.net etc.., thats confusing me a lot.
4.and do keeping the word "carrot" in anypart of domain is TM?? eg:- acarrot ,2carrots etc..,
please some pro clear these questions....

thanks for your input,
Niru

 

[dev99]

Answer to number 3
No, i think he only has the tm for sites related to that.

 

[Rush]

1. Go to uspto.gov
2. Same as first answer.
3. The trademarks are on names,merchandise,company.
So if i apply for a trademark ABC for selling computers, u can apply for the trade ABC for selling vegetables.
4.If u keep the word in anypart, trying to take advange of the TM (brand)then its not allowed.

This is what i understand from whatever i know. I maybe wrong.
So whoever has deeper knowledge in this please correct me.

 

[two4one]

thanks friends , you cleared my questions.so i can keep google.info as a domainname for vegetable market ..:lol:..

 

[Rush]

Well, u'll need a good lawyer to convince the google about that

 

[dev99]

Yep, i agree with Rush, gonna be hard convincing google.

 

[DNQuest.com]

Ok, if you really want to know about TMs, do a search on this forum and spend at least 4-5 hours reading EVERY thread on the subject. Jsut about everything has been covered and there are way too many vaiables to explain in one post. But do the research, then after the 4-5 hours, if you have a specific question, then ask it here. Many of us are happy to help.

But a couple of quick hits:

If you register a domain and part of all of that domain has a company YOU recognize, you are infringing on a TM. (If you heard of it, you know the comany or product, and if you know the company or product, they have a TM)
Having a TM does not give overall rights to a domain in any extension (but they have a strong case, domains are first come first served (read the many thread on TMs to understand that))
As far as similar TMs, see "APPLE"
TMs DO NOT have to be registered.
Registered TMs are called registered marks (meaning a compnay registered thier TM with the government and the government agrees that the comoany does in fact have a TM.)

 

[OK]

So i can own a website, say appleman.com and have it related to flash games and ill be safe?

 

[two4one]

ok i have gone through posts of this forum , still i have one doubt, there are a lot of english words which merges one in another ....mostly 2 and 3 lettered TM words included in higher words ...
here is my research
the word "MAC" has following 11 senses :: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=mac

at the same time the word "ac" has 24 senses :: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ac

now i went to uspto.gov and did a basic trademark search for "mac"
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfiel...h&a_search=Submit+Query&a_search=Submit+Query
i found 1900 Records(s).
then again did same for "ac" and returned with 1018 Records(s) found .
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfiel...h&a_search=Submit+Query&a_search=Submit+Query

now questions are
1.in those results hope only 1 company holds the registered TM of word "mac" , then how the rest working with same TM????
2.almost all business words are either fully or partially involves in a offline TM ,which in turn , that giving them right for online domains for those specific words,then everyone or atleast many domains comes under TM infrigment .... please correct me.
3.in clear,for point 2,do TM owners of "ac" have right over TM or non trademarked "mac"??..lol if that is correct , the TM owners of vowels rules the world.. ha ha ha

looking for pro inputs..,

So i can own a website, say appleman.com and have it related to flash games and ill be safe?

i don't know exactly but maybe you are right and have to convience apple for that.
am eager to see pro solutions for my other questions posted here... lets see..

 

[DNQuest.com]

So i can own a website, say appleman.com and have it related to flash games and ill be safe?

Not really, because Apple TMs cover technology ans software... so they could make a case for TM infringement

two4one: Those questions have been covered extensively here.

 

[two4one]

Not really, because Apple TMs cover technology ans software... so they could make a case for TM infringement

don't they count the word "man" with apple??

 

[two4one]

Not really, because Apple TMs cover technology ans software... so they could make a case for TM infringement

two4one: Those questions have been covered extensively here.

i have searched , i found a lot of similar threads , but not exactly what am looking for,DNQuest will you post a reference please...

 

[DNQuest.com]

http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=142736&highlight=apple+records

http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=136408&highlight=apple+records

http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=143639&highlight=trademark

This post took me about 3 mintes to answer and I did a search. 2 threads relate to Apple directly. Like I said before, use the search and read all about trademarks.

 

[two4one]

http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=142736&highlight=apple+records

http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=136408&highlight=apple+records

http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=143639&highlight=trademark

This post took me about 3 mintes to answer and I did a search. 2 threads relate to Apple directly. Like I said before, use the search and read all about trademarks.

i read your repeated apple's posting before, you didn't get my point.what i have asked for...
in my above things i asked for posts regarding point 3.
i.e., if trademark is issued only to one person or company then how that many companies using same trade marked/word mark word?? i don't found that question here, if you know those specific threads you may post here.

 

[DNQuest.com]

The same mark can be used by different companies in different catagories and regions. it was well explained in the threads EI- Apple. Apple computers, Apple records... they are in different catagories. So they both may claim to the Apple mark. When Apple computers decided to offer music (a different catagory than they previously had) Apple records filed suit because they hold TMs in that area (music industry). That is basic TM 101.

 

[two4one]

The same mark can be used by different companies in different catagories and regions. it was well explained in the threads EI- Apple. Apple computers, Apple records... they are in different catagories. So they both may claim to the Apple mark. When Apple computers decided to offer music (a different catagory than they previously had) Apple records filed suit because they hold TMs in that area (music industry). That is basic TM 101.

So, it is not illegal to start a new industry with existing brand without distrubing their reputation even they have TMs. am i right?
am asking becz am looking at some 2letter,3letter domains which have TMs , so regsitering them and using in a new categorized industry won't cause any problems to me?

thanks for your inputs DN , added rep

 

[DNQuest.com]

That may not be exactly true either. Apple in itself is generic in nature. They were made into TMs through their product branding in thier respective fields. You cannot take a TM (use yahoo or google for example) and try to use the name in another field, they could come after you. There is one thing to have fair use for a name, it is quite different to invent a reason to use a name. That would come under dillution of a TM.

Rake xbox for example, if ou try to make myxbox.com and have it as a porn site about your exwife, MS may come after you say your dilluting thier name.

TY for the rep.

 

[jberryhill]

What DNQuest is driving at in that last post is the notion that not all trademarks are created equal.

A word like "apple", when applied to computers, is an arbitrary designation of a common word to something other than what the word means. That arbitrary use of a common word makes it distinctive in that context. Apple is distinctive of a brand of computers. Apple is not distinctive of a brand of fruit.

There are such things as "fanciful" trademarks, which are a notch up on the strength scale from arbitrary trademarks. "Xerox" doesn't mean anything at all EXCEPT as a reference to a particular company and its products. So, if you took "Xerox" and started using it as a brand of shoes, it could still be argued that you would risk sowing confusion about the source or origin of those shoes, since the strong and sole association with one company would naturally suggest that the copier folks had something to do with those shoes.

 

[DNQuest.com]

^^^ yea, what he said

Thanx John

 

[two4one]

yeah i understood that.i hope dilution is not a 100% TM infrigment, but have risk. the word "Gmail" is diluting rapidly with various forum domains.Gmail talk,Gmail community,Gmail forum etc., etc

 

[bluesman]

...if you took "Xerox" and started using it as a brand of shoes, it could still be argued that you would risk sowing confusion about the source or origin of those shoes, since the strong and sole association with one company would naturally suggest that the copier folks had something to do with those shoes.

Yes, indeed. Although celeb names are a small part of my biz, I often (maybe too often) champion the rights of celeb domain name owners versus general TM squabbles; however in the case of companies and products, that is a VERY different kettle of fish. In that arena, you now have practically no excuse as to why else you grabbed the name (except for mercenary sales reasons). You can't claim your domain site is a "tribute" to a product or company, in the same way you would an actor or any other artist.

So you'd be much better off just NOT going to look for such legal trouble from these big businesses in the first place. And heed DNQ's suggestion to read the previous posts on this subject. Hopefully when you do, you won't come back here and still say something such as this, which a very dense poster did: "...but what if I regged SOURapple.com or appleSUCKS.com instead?"

 

[jberryhill]

You can fairly comment on people's products just as you can fairly comment on celebrities.

What people tend to want in these forums are black and white "can I register a celebrity name or TM as a domain name?" yes-or-no answers. Trouble is, there just isn't a yes-or-no answer to that question. What matters is WHY you registered a domain name - not what is the domain name.

 

[labrocca]

Exactly jberryhill....I think dnquest at times is more absolute in his posts. He suggest any domain with Xerox in it is automatically infringing. I believe more in fair-use. The real danger is commercial use of a trademark for your own gains and brand confusion.

 

[DNQuest.com]

Umm, when you register a domain with a TM in it, YOU ARE INFRINGING!!!!!!!! That IS an absolute. By registering a domain with a TM that you do not own, you have in essence violated a TM. You have no reason to register the domain, I doubt you have permission to register it. Since you never had the domain before, you don't have a site for it. So when you register the domain, you have no real reason for registering it (because you don't have a site).

At this point, your actions dictate whether you are illegally using the TM. (IE- any form of bad faith). Can TMs be used in domains? Yes, I have said that many times and I have defended that (I also have several fan sites). But people are coming here looking for affirmation to register TMs and inventing reasons to use them, but I believe deep down, they are looking for a payoff at some point.

I will tell you right now, I beleive 99.9% of domains with TMs are being used in bad faith. I truely believe the domainers register them for some sort of payoff in the end (yea, you people out there, don't pretend to be so innocent). Looking at WIPO decisions, the TM holder usually wins. These are the facts. What I do is show that this IS serious and the registratioins should not be taken lightly. It is a case of what you are willing to risk?