discuss Trademarked Domains

[Chris Hydrick]

There seems to be a lot of chatter recently about trademarked domains, so I thought to open a new thread. Perhaps we can use the following examples as starting points:

• One Letter off = Typo or New Brand?

Earlier today, FeeSly.com was registered. It doesn't seem to be one letter off from a trademark, however, Feedly.com is ranked by in the top 200 domains by Alexa. Feesly.com is only one letter off from feedly, and that letter (s) is right next to the (d). Now their trademark is for:

[Word Mark: FEEDLY
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer software for discovering, recommending, reading, accessing, monitoring, searching, sharing, aggregating, integrating, synchronizing, organizing and presenting news, information, images and content from RSS feeds, blogs, web sites and various publicly available sources. FIRST USE: 20080619. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20080619

IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Providing online non-downloadable software for discovering, recommending, accessing, reading, monitoring, searching, sharing, aggregating, integrating, synchronizing, organizing and presenting news, information, images and content from RSS feeds, blogs, web sites and various publicly available sources. FIRST USE: 20130615. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20130615]

Is it safe to assume that you're in the clear from trademark risk as long as you don't use the domain for any of the aforementioned purposes? I have StarVucks.com and Firefoxc.com but I am still within grace deletion periods.

• Is Windows trademarked?

There are successful sites such as WindowsITpro.com (ranked under 20k Alexa Global) where Microsoft pays a lot of advertising money to. Does that mean it's safe? I purchased, WindowsCertification.com, WindowsSDK.com, and WindowsThreshold.com. Most developers know what a windows SDK is, and while I stick to WindowsITpro.com being a legit site, I wonder if I am kidding myself with these domains? The domain owner of WindowsHomeServer.com is asking $700.

• Non trademarked one letter off domains

I registered Skedly.com, and Skeddly.com is an existing site under 300k Alexa ranking, however their name is not trademarked? Am I covered?

Anybody else with trademark questions, post away, and we'll see if we can help as a group!

 

[Chris Hydrick]

For those new to or unfamiliar with trademark law, please watch the video below before posting.​

DomainSherpa™ on Trademarked Domains
http://www.domainsherpa.com/do-not-register-trademark-domains/

@DomainSherpa™. Bring @DavidWeslow to NamePros!​

 

[Azwan Asban]

Good thread. I also has a trademark domain..
I would like to read all opinion..

 

[NameOmnia]

As we have mentioned before TM domains are a quite sure way to get ourselves into troubles..
BUT
It all comes down to what you use the domain for. If you benefit in any way from the TM then you can be sued; better to drop the name straight away.
If the domain is referable to a generic word ( or a word with more than one meaning f.e. ), a surname or a word combination then it really depends on what your website is about. Never park a domain that can be ascribable to a TM or you are in serious risk of consequences.

It is really a quite long and complicated subject and every case needs to be assessed per itself.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I wonder if this forum has a trademark lawyer connection that can chime in, or has chimed in for past threads. I'd imagine if the attorney had a special badge next to his picture by NamePros, it could be pitched as a marketing opportunity for him. I wouldn't mind starting a fund to pay a lawyer for his time at a discounted rate to chime in for a general Trademark discussion once a month or once per quarter. I'd have to imagine there's domain trademark attorneys out there that want to market their business, and what better way than NamePros.

[Food for thought: @Eric_Lyon]

 

[Chris Hydrick]

@photonmymind

Thanks for the information about parking a trademark.

It all comes down to what you use the domain for. If you benefit in any way from the TM then you can be sued; better to drop the name straight away

I don't necessarily get the point to dropping this ethical problem onto some other domainers hands for them to decide. Why not just eat the reg fee, and transfer the domain to the trademark holder if they want it, and work on making a new connection? I'm know I'm terrible at domaining so far, being that I've registered 100 domains, and so far my only "sales" are the two that I've given away for free. One to Benson Hendersons team, and the other to a NamePro user after I recieved a free domain from a NamePro user. And I might be offering another one away for free to the registered ™ owner. I registered the name of a popular APP earlier, later did the research and found the ™ with the name of my .COM for the following goods and services:

Downloadable mobile applications for the editing and sharing of photos and videos.Downloadable mobile applications for the editing and sharing of photos and videos.

The APP has:
Playstore Downloads: 2.8 Million
Playstore Paid Downloads: 50k
iPhone Downloads: 69k
iPhone Paid Downloads: 6.9k
iPad Downloads: 26k
iPad Paid Downloads: 1.4k
(they also have in APP purchases)

It's popular and profitable to get more to the point., yet their patent is for downloadable. The app does not have a domain attatched to it. I'm still researching as much as I can about the reach of trademarks in reference to the scope of theirs goods and services. Given that it's not generic words, I'm leaning towards offering a free transfer and working towards developing a connection within the company.

I am torn in a since though, because their trademark covers downloadable mobile applications, but it fails to mentionanything about about an internet based nondownloadable platform. Nonetheless, is it worth the risk to develop? I don't think so.

I'm going to do a little more research before I make contact with the trademark owners. At the very least, a testomonial for a dropped domain robin hood business powered by donations? Stay tuned, I should have some interesting feedback within the next few days.