advice Should I approach the company who has there name with a hyphen , I have the un-hyphenated version.

[Mohit Singhania]

Hi guys, Recently got a domain name in crypto niche.

I found out that a company with a similar name is operating since 2010.
The only difference between the name of the company and the name I have is that the company have a hyphen in between the two keywords. I have the un-hyphenated version.

I have not found any trademark registrations till now(I am not very good at it).
Is it a good idea to approach the company with the name ?

 

[dcember]

Yes

 

[anantj]

No. A trademark does not need to be registered for it to be enforceable

 

[IMEZI]

If those two word were actually dictionary word then yes you could approach them, but you still had to do it carefully. But if those two word were non dictionary word, i suggest that you refrain your self, wrong move could cause tedious law and copyright infringement along with high risk of loosing the domain name it self :D

 

[kunkka]

I have not found any trademark registrations till now(I am not very good at it).

Try this: https://www.trademarkia.com/

 

[rafaelo0]

In my view this is a gray area.

Like mention by @anantj "A trademark does not need to be registered for it to be enforceable" and by contacting them with the intention of selling the domain you just give them a more solid case against you if they decide to proceed with legal action, this is more probable to happen if they have a reg trademark but doesn't mean it can't happen even if the trademark isn't reg.

On the other side many enduser's don't even know about domain marketplaces or are interested about them and probably just checked once to see if the un-hyphenated version of their domain was available so how will they even know if the domain is up for sale?

If they get contacted with the opportunity of buying the un-hyphenated version of their business name they might get thrilled or it can go the other way around.

That is one of the many reasons why outbound marketing can be risky but it can also be very profitable and can solve a problem, it can also leave both parties happy.

I love this example "you can have the best product in the world but if you open up a store in the middle of the desert you will never sell it because there isn't anybody around to see it".

This is only my opinion, I'm not an attorney, nor am I qualified in any way to give legal advice.

So don't take this has legal advice the best person to answer this question is your lawyer.

 

[Joe N]

In my view this is a gray area.

Like mention by @anantj "A trademark does not need to be registered for it to be enforceable" and by contacting them with the intention of selling the domain you just give them a more solid case against you if they decide to proceed with legal action, this is more probable to happen if they have a reg trademark but doesn't mean it can't happen even if the trademark isn't reg.

On the other side many enduser's don't even know about domain marketplaces or are interested about them and probably just checked once to see if the un-hyphenated version of their domain was available so how will they even know if the domain is up for sale?

If they get contacted with the opportunity of buying the un-hyphenated version of their business name they might get thrilled or it can go the other way around.

That is one of the many reasons why outbound marketing can be risky but it can also be very profitable and can solve a problem, it can also leave both parties happy.

I love this example "you can have the best product in the world but if you open up a store in the middle of the desert you will never sell it because there isn't anybody around to see it".

This is only my opinion, I'm not an attorney, nor am I qualified in any way to give legal advice.

So don't take this has legal advice the best person to answer this question is your lawyer.

I agree with all this information. If the words are more or less generic, and you keep the price reasonable, I see no reason to be concerned.