advice Need some legal advice on this..

[Jee1]

I Bought flipperbay(dot)com recently.. Thought it would be good for a domain flipping site... but I want to know whether there would be any legal consequences from ebay if I develop this site?
Thanks for your valuable time guys....!!!

 

[aramyus]

flipperbay does not seem to be trademarked (see tmsearch.uspto.gov) and both words look common

There are zillions of domains ending with bay and plenty with flipper (see zfbot)

My guess would be that you're ok. It's only a guess: I am not a lawyer.

However, you may not be able to sustain a complaint from some agressive company (very costly to defend yourself). I also doubt that a trademark lawyer could guarantee to you are safe

 

[enlytend]

If you're operating a business that's in any way similar to eBay, you can expect a letter from them like this person got - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1727747

Then there was "Perfumebay" - http://www.internetlibrary.com/cases/lib_case523.cfm

The problem is that the word "bay" had nothing to do with auctions or online sales until eBay came along. Now, the word as a suffix is very strongly associated with their brand. Adding other words in a similar manner could cause confusion among consumers or dilute (weaken the uniqueness) of the brand.

If the potential value of a domain is based upon someone else's brand, better to avoid.

 

[Jee1]

First of all I'd like both of you for taking your time to reply my query.... @aramyus I too think it would be OK since Bay is not an unique word... @enlytend when I purchased this domain, I thought someone could use it for flipping domain or website... If so, will that be OK?

 

[DaveX]

I too have owned a domain with the suffix bay. I haven't developed it, but at one times many years ago I had a site on it and never heard anything from ebay. Funny thing is, it actually incorporates the entire ebay word too! The domain is NudieBay.com.

 

[Jee1]

I too have owned a domain with the suffix bay. I haven't developed it, but at one times many years ago I had a site on it and never heard anything from ebay. Funny thing is, it actually incorporates the entire ebay word too! The domain is NudieBay.com.

Hahaha.... this gives me lot of confidence.... What was the site about?

 

[DaveX]

I can tell you that the big companies (ones that have dedicated TM teams) do keep a close eye on infringements. Years ago I had a site and the logo was remotely similar to Google (the colors and font were similar). Took no time at all to get letters from them demanding the logo be changed. I, of course, changed the logo.

 

[DaveX]

Hahaha.... this gives me lot of confidence.... What was the site about?

It was a site with adult pictures. When I was younger. I let it drop in 2013 then re-regged it, but owned it originally for years before that.

 

[Jee1]

It was a site with adult pictures. When I was younger. I let it drop in 2013 then re-regged it, but owned it originally for years before that.

I can tell you that the big companies (ones that have dedicated TM teams) do keep a close eye on infringements. Years ago I had a site and the logo was remotely similar to Google (the colors and font were similar). Took no time at all to get letters from them demanding the logo be changed. I, of course, changed the logo.

It was a site with adult pictures. When I was younger. I let it drop in 2013 then re-regged it, but owned it originally for years before that.

Really... I didn't know they were looking for logos as well... But good to know... I'll keep a note of it....
I guess ebay didn't contact you cos they don't sell nude pics... Lol...

 

[DaveX]

Or they were enjoying them.

 

[TERADOMAIN]

Totally agree with @enlytend . I remember reading article about Perfumebay.com . Ebay won case against them. Ebay is also selling domains on their platform so flipperbay is in that category for sure. Name sounds similar to Ebay and so many people may think your company is part of Ebay which Ebay does not like it. This is the reason they will give in court. I am not lawyer. This is just my opinion. Anything related to Ebay does not mean we always lose but there is high probability that sooner or later need to face some stress and trouble. Ebay has nothing to lose. They have big team of lawyers. Either we win or lose we lose so many thousands dollars for sure. If you are willing to take that risk then it is ok.

I am again saying I am not an expert but we are living in USA and we need to be very careful before we chose domain for particular business. You are ok as long as you do with that name what Ebay doesn't do but problem is Ebay does almost anything so it is very hard to do anything related to their name.

Apple.org was used to be site for Apple Farm so Apple can not take any action against them because Apple company sells gadgets and Apple.org was showing info about Apple fruit which is not related to Apple.com business. Still Apple.org redirect to some other site and all other major extension captured by Apple.

This is just an opinion. This is reality. Need to be careful. Final decision is yours. I am not an expert of anything. Just sharing what I have read or experienced or heard of what happen to other companies.

Thanks

 

[Jee1]

Or they were enjoying them.

Rofl.... :D yeah it could be mate...!!!

 

[Jee1]

Totally agree with @enlytend . I remember reading article about Perfumebay.com . Ebay won case against them. Ebay is also selling domains on their platform so flipperbay is in that category for sure. Name sounds similar to Ebay and so many people may think your company is part of Ebay which Ebay does not like it. This is the reason they will give in court. I am not lawyer. This is just my opinion. Anything related to Ebay does not mean we always lose but there is high probability that sooner or later need to face some stress and trouble. Ebay has nothing to lose. They have big team of lawyers. Either we win or lose we lose so many thousands dollars for sure. If you are willing to take that risk then it is ok.

I am again saying I am not an expert but we are living in USA and we need to be very careful before we chose domain for particular business. You are ok as long as you do with that name what Ebay doesn't do but problem is Ebay does almost anything so it is very hard to do anything related to their name.

Apple.org was used to be site for Apple Farm so Apple can not take any action against them because Apple company sells gadgets and Apple.org was showing info about Apple fruit which is not related to Apple.com business. Still Apple.org redirect to some other site and all other major extension captured by Apple.

This is just an opinion. This is reality. Need to be careful. Final decision is yours. I am not an expert of anything. Just sharing what I have read or experienced or heard of what happen to other companies.

Thanks

Thanks alot man...!!! So the previous owner have used it as a blog... So I think it will be good for that rather than a domain business....

 

[DaveX]

Thanks alot man...!!! So the previous owner have used it as a blog... So I think it will be good for that rather than a domain business....

Yes, better for a blog or something. If you are going to build a platform for domains, I would use something short and catchy.

 

[TERADOMAIN]

Thanks alot man...!!! So the previous owner have used it as a blog... So I think it will be good for that rather than a domain business....

Yes Hopefully it will be good as long as it is not related to Ebay's business at all.

Thanks

 

[nomen]

I don't see any problems with your domain. That perfumebay decision sucks big time IMO. Probably a lot to do with the fact that the name contains the name eBay.

 

[deez007]

I would think your domain would be perfectly safe.... I'm also surprised with the perfumebay case...I mean that's just totally unfair. Corporate bullying at it's best.....

 

[Kate]

The problem here isn't Ebay but Flippa (surprised nobody mentioned it yet).

http://domaingang.com/domain-news/f...rademark-seriously-threatens-to-sue-domainer/

 

[Jee1]

Thanks for you feedbacks guys.... Yeah... I totally agree.. Its very unfair for big organization to do such a thing.. Perfume and bay are two different words... but they have taken as perfum & ebay which is utter nonsense..

 

[Jee1]

The problem here isn't Ebay but Flippa (surprised nobody mentioned it yet).

I saw that the previous owner has used it as a blog... but for some reason, he didn't renew the domain.. Not sure flippa threatened him...