Symbols and trademarks

[lotech]

OK, obviously wanting to keep specifics out of it, I'll try and explain this as best I can. Go easy on me, I'm a complete novice to this whole game!

I've just started out and I've invested in some IDNs. Most of these involve symbols of interest, rather than character replacement nonsense. These are aimed at an English speaking market, specifically the UK. Now one of them, without thinking, does relate to an existing company. The company's name in question involves two parts in one word. As an example say... OmegaHeaven. But my domain uses the symbol for Omega followed by Heaven, so my domain would be www.Ωheaven.com.

Now I've done this without thinking, but have absolutely no knowledge on what the legalities are. I'm a student on a VERY limited budget and can't really afford to be asking lawyers etc. However, the domain in question could be worth something and I'd like to pursue it if I can. I've done some reading but can find nothing on symbols.

Could anyone offer me some help?

 

[Kate]

Well, as for the possible trademark issues, are there any companies around going by the name of 'Omega Heaven' or similar ? If not you should be OK. Otherwise, the domain could be deemed 'confusingly similar' (when read aloud).

Now I think this is a poor choice of a domain.
Can you imagine advertising it ? Seems nigh impossible to me.
I don't even think that the Brits have that symbol on their keyboards, so it cannot be typed-in.
IMHO this is strictly a vanity URL, that has no value. Good luck.

 

[lotech]

This is purely an example. Omega Heaven is a completely fictional name for illustrational purposes. The actual domain is highly usable. Now I don't know a lot about domain value, but I believe it will hold some. I'm just talking principal and from a legal point of view.

 

[Domagon]

Mixed language character set IDNs can potentially be problematic in registering / renewal in the future, and also may be filtered out / flagged as suspicious by some software.

If going seeking an IDN for its appearance, try to stick to those that utilize characters in the same language character set. Chinese and Japanese IDNs have many cool looking characters to choose from.

On a related note, there's a very small risk that some single-character IDNs that are now allowed may be blocked in the future; those already registered, assuming in .com, would likely be grandfathered in, as often has been the policy in the past (ie. x.com).

Ditto on what sdsinc wrote regarding TM issues with similar sounding domain. There can even be instances in which a TMed name translated to a different language can still be infringing.

Personally, I'd suggest using symbols only (check out Chinese and Japanese .COM IDNs). Also, register / buy a non-IDN domain that's memorable and easily typed in, and redirect it to the same site.

Ron

 

[lotech]

Mixed language character set IDNs can potentially be problematic in registering / renewal in the future, and also may be filtered out / flagged as suspicious by some software.

If going seeking an IDN for its appearance, try to stick to those that utilize characters in the same language character set. Chinese and Japanese IDNs have many cool looking characters to choose from.

On a related note, there's a very small risk that some single-character IDNs that are now allowed may be blocked in the future; those already registered, assuming in .com, would likely be grandfathered in, as often has been the policy in the past (ie. x.com).

Ditto on what sdsinc wrote regarding TM issues with similar sounding domain. There can even be instances in which a TMed name translated to a different language can still be infringing.

Personally, I'd suggest using symbols only (check out Chinese and Japanese .COM IDNs). Also, register / buy a non-IDN domain that's memorable and easily typed in, and redirect it to the same site.

Ron

Thanks for the reply! That is incredibly useful information, exactly what I needed!

Firstly, the character/symbol I am using is DEFINITELY in the character set for the language it's aimed at. I will make sure to stay well away from any potential trademark infringements and do my research first!

I'm not looking fora single character domain, but I have registered a couple of 2 character .com domains, both utilising a symbol (from a UK English character set) and a letter. Does this sound OK? Just to clarify, this isn't for a vanity domain, this is aimed to be functional.

Does this sound pretty safe? As I said, I know I need to do a lot of research, but I had to buy a few that I figure are potentially very useful, but I'm not expecting to sell them tomorrow