TM Question

[DebX420]

I was wanting to open a site, and it has a TM in it. The TM is UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship.

I was wanting to get like:

UFCForums.com
UFCBoards.com

Something along those lines. Just review fights, talk about em, etc. I would have no ads, outside of personal sites that I approve of for free, and there will be no monetary gain on my end. Could I be looking at some trouble?

 

[Corey]

er yes

 

[DebX420]

What about something more broad? Like:

MMAForums.com
FightForums.com

etc?

 

[Corey]

same industry

 

[DebX420]

I thought MMA and fight were styles? I know MMA is a style of fighting - its kick boxing, boxing, mui tye (SP?) and such mixed - mixed martial arts.

 

[BitcoinDK]

i dont believe mma is TM, its acronym for = mixed martial arts.

UFC is a TM, thats for sure.

 

[gilescoley]

There a a lot of MMA TM's most relating to MMA fighting

like MMA Fighting, MMA clothing, MMA Legends etc etc

be careful with names like this

 

[danifilth]

MMA is not tm'd its the same as saying baseball or basketball but UFC definetly is and Zuffa will sue

 

[flamewalker]

Often times you can do it in a non-commercial way and be ok. I would stay away from the UFC TM tho. Not sure about MMA. Something descriptive like MMAfourms or the like, imo, would probably be ok. Check www.uspto.gov and google to see what TM's might exist so you can make sure not to infringe on them.

 

[danifilth]

yeah UFC owns UFC, Ultimate Fighting, Ultimate Fighter,Octagon and Zuffa check this out: http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=7090

 

[gilescoley]

yeah there are loads of MMA TM's, go and have a look on USPTO, if you arent sure, it's safer staying away from it IMO

 

[Ronald Regging]

If it's used in a completely non-commercial manner you should be fine legally. The only purpose of TMs are to protect products or services in a commercial environment. If you're making a completely non-profit fan site, it'd be hard to prove bad faith. However, you should make sure that your site and graphics do not resemble theirs in any way and that you don't do anything to cause confusion as to the source of the site...

However, this doesn't mean they won't still come after you. But most companies aren't too eager to bust chops on a true fan site that obviously isn't profiting in any way.

 

[DebX420]

I got a generic domain I am going to use (BLIZZAVISION.COM)

 

[Coastalguy]

FightForums.com would be OK.

ST